The rise and dominance of streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ have brought an interesting revolution to popular culture and the entertainment industry in ways that are mostly bad.
It’s cool that I can watch more movies and television for my monthly subscription than I ever could consume in a lifetime, but it’s less cool that movie theaters are withering away because people have perfectly good televisions at home or that the cultural zeitgeist binges shows faster than I can watch them.
A recently distressing trend has been Netflix’s willingness to spend money on very cool movies and projects from very interesting directors to fill out their lineup and keep me subscribing. These films do not receive any kind of wide release in movie theaters and are trapped on television. I like to stream “Love Island USA.” I will not be thrilled to see Guillermo Del Toro’s new “Frankenstein” on my couch instead of in a movie theater this winter.
When I watched “KPop Demon Hunters,” an animated movie from Sony Pictures Animation that dropped without a ton of promotion on Netflix in June, my first thought was that I’d rather have seen it in a theater. It’s got a bumping soundtrack. It’s got vibrant, stylish animation inspired by anime and music videos. It’s got magical girls who fight demons while living a “Hannah Montana”-esque double life as Korean pop stars.
It’s a film that was made to be experienced with theater-quality sound and alongside a group of strangers — that’s true even if it’s also likely that “KPop Demon Hunters” wouldn’t have made such a splash if it weren’t so accessible via Netflix.
The film follows a fictional group of Korean pop stars who are also demon hunters called Huntr/x (pronounced Huntrix) who are tasked with slaying demons while using their music to uphold a magical barrier called the Honmoon. They’re faced with a challenge unlike any they’ve faced before when a rival boy band made up of demons, the Saja Boys, arrive on the scene to steal away their fans.
The narrative is fairly basic. It’s an animated movie about pop stars who have to learn to share their insecurities with one another in order to save the world. The film is something special, though, in its excellently crafted music — which has taken on a life of its own and seen tracks reach No. 1 on music charts in America and in South Korea. It also has incredible action, funny jokes and absolutely inspired animation. There’s a whole lot to love here.
The film opens with a musical action sequence where Huntr/x battles demons while eating ramen before skydiving into a sold-out stadium show to perform. I was enraptured — it never lets up. It all comes together in a musical finale that far exceeded my expectations and it’s stuck with me for months — and not just because my kindergarten-aged nephew is really into it.
“KPop Demon Hunters” is a better film than its title might have you believe. It’s a standout release that almost flew under the radar because it just showed up on Netflix one day. It’s worth catching even if you don’t have an opportunity to see it in theaters.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
