Sector 7

Touted as one of the first 3D monster movie coming out of Korea that was a box office sensation, Sector 7 hits all the sweet spots as far as playing up the hunter-prey formula of monster versus helpless humans, but did it take a long time in getting there, weighted down by a pretty lengthy first act that served as an introduction to all the characters involved, and dwelling a bit more into their respective formulaic caricatures before unleashing hell onboard an oil rig crew that doesn't have the luck when it comes to looking for and digging for black gold.

Ha Ji-Won plays Cha Hae-Joon, the lone female oil rig miner besides the other female crew in doctor Hyun-Jung (Cha Ye-Ryeon), in what would be a testosterone filled occupation out in the rough seas. The team seems to be hitting dead ends continuously, and are ordered to cease operations only for Ahn Jung-Man (Ahn Sung-Ki) to return to the rig, and whose intentions will be made clear as the film progresses. But with the skeleton crew left behind, they find what they're looking for, and with that success managed to find time to engage in some shenanigans such as motorbike racing on the rig platform, and trading of war stories through the comparison of scars earned through their tough jobs. It is here of course that we learn of their broad values and principles, which will come useful once the monster gets unleashed.

It isn't the first time that the Koreans have dabbled in monster films, having the very acclaimed The Host and others like Chaw making it to the country's filmography. Sector 7 proves to be a worthy addition to that list, with director Kim Ji-Hun knowing what it takes to keep up the suspense and to build anticipation, and utilizing the best of lighting and camera angles to take the narrative forward, even though one may have to shrug at the story by Yun Je-Gyun which is riddled with the usual formulaic clichés. Characters turn into caricatures and remain wafer thin, and you know just about everyone is fair game to being chomped by the monster, especially those who display negative traits that you will root for karma to make its full circle, even if it means having the narrative go through the necessary convenience.

Themes such as camaraderie and courage are a given, as are minor subplots involving friendships and romance in the middle of the rig south of Jeju Island. Once this film decided to become a monster flick from the halfway mark, it essentially became a Ha Ji-Won vehicle, with the actress having come a long way since her Sex is Zero time, to the tough as nails cookie character who dishes out as good as she receives, aping to reach the ranks of the Ripleys and the Connors through her acrobatic stunts, quick wit and keen sense of survival. That benchmark unfortunately was a little bit hard to reach.

The creature design is certainly one of the best things about the film, with the filmmakers never shy to always want to keep it under wraps or shadows. With such a beautiful beast created, the last thing you want to do is to hide it, so from the onset we get to see what the threat looks like, with its razor like fangs and wicked whip-like tongue, as well as armoured skin making it all quite impervious to just about everything everyone throws at it, from shotgun projectiles to harpoons, yet susceptible to melee weapons such as the good ol' axe. What aced the design was the creature's inherent combustible nature, adding much needed gravitas to plot development and requisite rationale why and how things developed the way they were, as well as being responsible for some of the more aesthetically shot action sequences complete with slow-mo techniques to bring out sheer awe.

But ultimately while Sector 7 can be a guilty pleasure as far as monster flicks go with the hunter very much in control and threatening different prey along the way, it never quite reached the heights it had the potential to. If only it had a less cliché development, added a lot more varied scenes in which fodder got dispatched, and made characters whom we actually care a lot more for, then this would have been something more memorable indeed.

I was hoping for more of a Deep Star six, Deep Rising Leviathan or possibly a Deep Blue Sea horror flick on the sea but Sector 7 isn't all bad. The Korean sci/fi action horror hybrid film centers on a group of drillers who battle sea monsters aboard their rig. Their are some cool spfx and some bad CGI and green screen work. The movie looks like it was probably fun in 3D and there are some nice shots in it. The cinematography freshens up the generic storyline and although insipid it makes for some goofy fun. It reminded me of a section in the Resident Evil 4 game, those who have played it will know what I'm referring too and that's how the movie plays out. it feels like a big video game but overstays it's welcome slightly by taking to long to get started and stretching out the climax with unnecessary slow mo. All in all it's not a bad watch and worth it if your in for this type of movie.

Seriously. That's pretty much the film that we have on hand. A crew isolated out in the middle of nowhere (aka an oil rig), are attempting to do a job, when they encounter a strange, brutal creature.

Unlike 'Alien,' there's very few characters to care about. There's a gaggle of idiots (one pretty much the Jar Jar Binks of comedy relief) that you just know are fodder for the creature.

Most of this films feels like it was shot against a green-screen, as we see lots of process-shots, and even some fake motorcycle-riding (yes, motorcycles on an oil rig, they are THAT bored!).

This was also a 3D horror film, so we have lots of images of swooping cameras, characters moving in and out of the frame, and stuff coming' right at ya! Personally, give me 'Alien' or 'The Host' any day, and leave 'Sector 7' to sink into the abyss.

I bought this for a dollar at a flea market because Ha Ji-won was amazing in the K-Drama "Secret Garden." The checkout lady was like, "Sector 7, that's a great film." I wonder what film she was actually thinking of? 95% of this movie is green-screen plus painful CGI. And the script is SO, SO full of clichés. Like, how many times are they going to play the "Monster is dead-nope, still alive!" card? I would avoid this film like the plague just based on the clichés alone! Ha Jiwon does more girl action hero shtick than actual acting, and the other characters are just there to be killed by the monster. And you can't convince me that oil rigs have a self-destruct!!!!! In the trailer, they even stole MU-TH-R's countdown voice from the movie Alien. How sad is that?

Exactly what you think it is. A feeble attempt at an Alien remake except Alien didn't have CGI. God, what is it with the CGI these days?! So many half way movies that could have simply been considered quirky B-grade monster movies have turned into video games. Lazy film making in my opinion. I did like the overall premise and the sets were fantastic-- although I could not tell how many were computer generated. They already did Alien, and they already did the Abyss. This movie basically exploits both with no apologies. It really would have been so much better with less effects. More plot, better script etc. I really hate these video game movies. Nuff said.