The Tower

I'm so sorry, but after the fairly realistic depictions in Dr. DMAT, where it was about doctors, but only the ones who worked with firefighters, and there was some insight into their profession, this felt like a kick in the gut. The moment the firefighters brought the desperate dad into their midst, I wanted to turn it off (because it makes sense to keep a guy fresh from a burning building in a squad car so he can be reunited with his daughter; it could have been handled so beautifully in other ways, like having the firefighters navigate the building from the outside – after all, it was all in his head; but no, it probably wouldn't have been as poignant then and so forth). The nonsensical behavior of the characters, the decisions of the firefighters, who looked like a bunch of amateurs... forget it, not my kind of movie. Unnecessary extortionate pathos. I was looking forward to a nice crisis and how it gets handled. In the end, it was just a rehash of what I've seen so many times (in Korea) – somewhat of a romance, misplaced humor, a child in peril, a pregnant woman in peril, Bruce Willis on an asteroid, love conquers all, and everything somehow by chance in a burning skyscraper. I just wasn't hooked, I wasn't entertained, I wasn't interested. (10/08/2015)

When I want a disaster movie, I want it to be just like this one. Action-packed and suspenseful, following the fates of multiple people, a little touching, and with great special effects. The Tower easily delivers on all that. Plus the always and always amazing Ye-jin Son and a host of other likeable actors. What more could I ask for? It's not 100% for me just because of the ending, which I found unnecessary. But otherwise it was a great movie experience. 4.5 stars. (07/20/2015)