The Tower

Was südkoreanische Katastrophenfilme angeht, so hatte ich bereits Tsunami - Die Todeswelle aus dem Jahr 2009 gesehen, also wusste ich, worauf ich mich einlasse, und ich lag nicht falsch. Technisch gesehen handelt es sich um ein solide gedrehtes Actionspektakel, das von anständig gemachten visuellen Effekten und schöner Musik dominiert wird. Aber was die Schauspielerei angeht - das ist etwas anderes! Ich werde wohl nie den Schauspielstil in südkoreanischen Filmen verstehen, denn die vielen übertriebenen Emotionen und albernen Grimassen, die es in diesen zwei Stunden zu sehen gab, haben mich oft genervt. Einige rührende und herzzerreißende Szenen sind gelungen, während andere eher gezwungen und weniger glaubwürdig waren. Kurz gesagt, es ist im Grunde der drei Jahre jüngere Bruder von Tsunami - Die Todeswelle, der seinem Vorgänger in jeder Hinsicht ähnlich ist. (24.08.2013)

The Tower is so emotionally manipulative that it’s almost literally abusive to the viewer. Following Tsunami, it is another lethal Korean combination of spectacular effects, painfully hysterical folk humour, affected pathos and high-level brainwashing celebrating the togetherness of the common people in the face of the powerful and disasters. According to the handbook of dramaturgy, the narrative totters in place for three-quarters of an hour in order to introduce to viewers the characters with whom they are supposed to sympathise. However, that is entirely unnecessary in this case, because no character development occurs and viewers spend the whole time watching overwrought walking clichés in a narrative that is peculiarly incoherent in terms of both space and logic. In its cheap pulling at heart strings, the climax is a tasteless illusion to 9/11 featuring a wall plastered with flyers by people looking for their missing relatives. (30.03.2013)

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. (20.07.2015)

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. (08.10.2015)