Rumi, Mira and Zoey are not only stars of the K-pop girl group Huntr/x, but also Demon Hunters, saving the world from demon invaders and trying to strengthen the Honmoon, an invisible wall separating Earth from the demon world led by Gwi-Ma. But five demons, led by Jinu, take the form of the cute group Saja Boys, which quickly gains so many fans with their songs that they start overshadowing the Huntr/x. Jinu admits to Rumi that he was once a human, but collaborated with the demons to save himself from poverty. However, in the final battle, Jinu sacrifices himself and helps Rumi, Mira and Zoey defeat the demon invasion.
Maggie Kang's feature length animated debut film was a bullseye due to its charming and effervescent blend of 'magical girl' anime with K-pop iconography, reulting in an amusing film. "KPop Demon Hunters" is filled with wacky jokes and crazy situations which give it spark: the opening sequence on the airplane, where the girls are gorging on food, Rumi cuts to the chase and confronts the suspicious flight attendant ("You're a demon, right?") while the fight with the demons is choreographed like a music spot in tune to their song "How It's Done" is brilliant, establishing a wonderful intro into this world. Other jokes are just plain silly, but they work, nontheless: for instance, when they first spot the Saja Boys walking in slow motion, and one of the guys shows his abbs, Zoey has a caricature, animesque facial expression with popcorn falling out from her eyes, while Mira is eating said popcorn from the box. Unfortunately, only Rumi is given enough time to turn into a three-dimensional character, while Rumi and Zoey are mostly absent as characters in the second half of the film, except that they fight. The finale is kind of obfuscated, standard fighting for these kind of movies, whereas the pacing is fast, but too rushed at times, meaning that it needed more courage to slow down, as to give viewers more time to absorb all this and enjoy the setting. Refreshingly, nothing is presented as black and white—the key demon henchmen, Jinu, was a human before who sold his soul to the demons to save himself from hunger and poverty, meaning he joined them out of necessity, not because he is evil per se; whereas Rumi, even though she is a demon hunter, is half-demon herself, since her father was one, showing that the lines can sometimes be blurred and people can have several contradictory motives due to several circumstances. A fun and energetic movie, with occasional singing sequences.
Grade:++
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