[MOVIE REVIEW] 'Superman' flies while Jun Ji-hyun runs aground

"A Man Once a Superman," directed by Jeong Yun-cheol, relies heavily on the performances of award-wining actor Hwang Jun-min, who can transform his silver-screen image at will. This time, he turns into a self-styled superman helping out children and the elderly on the streets of Seoul.

But the question here is, can he save the movie?

"Superman," played by Hwang, sleeps a lot and often wakes up to find himself lying on the street. The first question he asks to himself when he opens his eyes is whether it's past, present or future, as if he travels in time and it's an important question to be answered. But there are more urgent questions. Who is this guy? Why does he help people out? Why can't he fly?

In fact, he's not a real superman. At least not the Superman described in the Hollywood blockbuster series. This guy believes he used to be superman, but somehow evil foes have messed with his brain, resulting in the loss of his super power.

How sad. But Song Su-jeong, played by Jun Ji-hyun, does not see any sadness when she stumbles into this mysterious (or simply crazy) man. Song does not care about others that much -- a typical Korean woman who has so many things to worry about in her own life. She is stuck in a cash-strapped situation, though she works hard. She has a boyfriend but she cannot meet him because he's doing some volunteer work in a faraway country. She even goes through a street chase to get back her precious camera bag which is snatched away by a thief. At this very critical moment, of course, our hero Superman appears. To be more specific, he runs, fast, and catches up with the bad guy and recovers the camera bag. A mission accomplished. Song, intrigued by Superman's repeated good deeds, decides to track down on his life on the street. She notices that he is not in his right mind but his behavior is mostly designed to help other people, a rare trait even for the majority of people who believe they are not crazy.

As with the Hollywood Superman, Hwang's Superman has a deep secret about his childhood, involving his mysterious father whose encouraging message is displayed on the electric screen of a street vendor. To understand the connotations about his traumatic past one has to be familiar with Korean history, especially concerning the May 18 Gwangju incident in 1980 where a number of innocent civilians got killed by the then military regime.

The movie zooms in on the past and present of Superman who proves to the world that something should be done when people need help from others. But the process is a bit tedious and repetitive. Tighter editing might have helped the audiences focus on the dramatic plot turns that reveal Superman's real identity.

Jun Ji-hyun, who has yet to transcend the image she put forward in "My Sassy Girl" (2001), has attempted to make some changes. For instance, she smokes on the screen to show some toughness about her documentary job. She does not cry as often as she did in her other box-office duds. Her hair is shorter and her makeup is minimal. But unfortunately, that's all that's changed, and Jun does not demonstrate any meaningful transformation, say, into Superwoman or Wonderwoman or even Cat Woman.

By Yang Sung-jin