The Girl on a Bulldozer (2022) User Reviews

Watched it for Kim Hye-yoon

[Luv2Spooge · 5/10 · 1 February 2023]

If you're a fan of Kim Hye-yoon, you may not recognize her in this film. She went from a bubbly k-drama girl to a all-tat up street tough delinquent. Her performance was top notched and pulled off the character flawlessly.

However, the film itself was more or less average. It keeps you mildly entertained but the subject matter has all become too cliche. Much like Parasite, it is another look at the social issues plaguing South Korea as the wealth gap extends between the super wealthy and the common folks. It even dabbles into the evil politicians and their greed.

Though such messages are good constant reminders, but they prove very little to offer any solution or resolves. In the final end, one can probably guess how it will go with the film's title itself.

What I find lacking in comparison to Parasite is that it is completely devoid of comedic elements, which Koreans are known for. The film from the start was serious and through the whole time, again and again, the protagonist just took the abuse of the upper class without giving the audience that Michael Douglas' Falling Down satisfaction.

The mystery of the story is also quite convoluted with many unrelated elements and parts that made it a bit confusing. I think certain elements could be eliminated to make the overall story flow a lot better. When we reached the end, it is easily to see the final main plot line and then you can see what I mean about unnecessary elements that could've been eliminated.

Overall a good one time watch, but it really didn't incite an emotional response from me.

5/10.

Everyone is annoying.

[hz_ · 5/10 · 8 August 2022]

Bon Jin daughter is very smart in here, she is very talented. But her attitude is very annoying, and rude. But I allow it because I think I know why she behave like that.

But, everyone around her is more annoying. Her father is useless, okay maybe he raise her until she become a teenager, but he didn't care about family. They're on money crisis, but he still bet on horses. Even he also talk rude to his daughter.

When she ask a question kindly, and then they just ignore her, talk rude to her. Hospital worker are very rude and talk very loud in hospital. The victim's mom is a scammer too, and I think the hospital was scam too.

I also upset with the annoying aunt that angry to Bon Jin daughter, its all his father fault, why you angry at her? The bully that punch her is very coward. And I don't what he is, but the politician was the most bad human in this movie Arghhh

Why everyone is not realize that her family is so poor, no one care about it, they just want money.

Girl On 🔥

[pomtioga · 10/10 · 25 May 2022]

Kim Hye Yoon delivers yet another nuanced and dazzling performance as the lead protagonist in The Girl on a Bulldozer. A slow burner which fully comes to life in the capable hands of Hye Yoon and a strong supporting cast. Frustrated naysayers may have been expecting an action film, this is not it..it is so much more. The Girl on a Bulldozer is a fascinating character study regarding the choices that we make when life comes at us hard.

Kim Hye Yoon

[earlmoran-56934 · 3 August 2022]

Sometimes a films lead character has to be able to hold a realistic persona. She has the ability to make it so believable and only special people have this ability.

A Pure Nonsense Pretending to be an Intellectual Narrative

[mr-giroro · 2/10 · 17 June 2023]

I watched this movie on a plane. Judging from the title and the preview, I thought it would be a story about a courageous young lady who overcame insurmountable hardship and achieved a personal victory in an unfair society. This is a cliché that I've watched many times, but I decided to give it a try because I thought it would be at least a decent time killer (which I needed as I was on a long-haul flight). Alas, this movie could not even deliver that simple cliché. It was a total mess of pretentiousness and presumptions.

The director apparently wanted to make an intelligent, thought-provoking narrative on inequality like Parasite. There is no question that inequality is one of the biggest issues we face today, and that we should attend to it. However, the story portrayed here is almost NOTHING to do with inequality. I said "almost" because inequality plays some role here; like any other society, the Korean society is more generous toward the haves, and I do not deny that inequality played some role in the protagonist's hardship. However, her hardship was inflicted mostly by her father and herself but not by the society -- especially, the father. For this kind of movie, character development is everything. We need to care about the protagonist and his/her supporters; otherwise, the movie simply won't work. But the director and the actors failed so miserably in developing likable characters that I could not care less about what happened to them.

The father of the protagonist is portrayed as a victim in the movie, but he is not. He is a true villain of the story. You may disagree, but please allow me to share a list of his wrongdoings:

• He was an alcoholic and gambling addict. The movie implies that he became one due to his loving wife's untimely death. Many people experience a loss of loved ones, but most don't make it an excuse to become an alcoholic and gambling addict.

• Being an alcoholic and addict, he apparently neglected his parental duty. Both children were poorly taken care of. Especially, the protagonist had become a serious delinquent who frequented correctional facilities. When he interacted with his children, he showed no respect nor love.

• He made a 4-year leasing contract with his boss and blamed his boss for asking him out after 4-years. Yes, his boss "verbally" promised that he could stay as long as he wanted, but why would he rely on a verbal promise when he signed on a 4-year contract? This is in the realm of common sense. Yes, his boss was greedy and dirty, and he should not have made a commitment that he could not keep. But that's a whole different matter.

• To resolve this, instead of legal actions or simply refusing to vacate the restaurant (this is surprising effective in Korea; I know because I am in consulting business in Korea), he brought a knife and threatened his boss. This is a serious crime.

• He ended up stabbing one of the staff at his boss' office. This is an assault with a deadly weapon. He could go to prison for many years for this.

• He stole the boss' car, yet another serious crime. And he drove it while fully intoxicated. Another serious crime.

• He hit two people while driving in a fully intoxicated state and hurt them. I was so puzzled that those who got hurt were portrayed as villains. Even though they were careless, who is more responsible? Drunken driver or a jaywalker?

• He was an owner of a restaurant, and he did not pay his employees' salary for months, while he was throwing away money on horse racing.

He made at least 6-7 felony crimes (illegal gambling, grand theft auto, assault with deadly weapon, drunken driving, and drunken driving accident, to name a few). Is he really someone whom we should sympathize with? To me, he was just an indecent human being and horrendous parent. Is it really inequality that destroyed him and his family? Should the society cheer for a person who destroyed one's (and his family's) life with drinking and gambling?

What was even worse than the father's character was the protagonist's. She was just a destructive, angry young lady. She constantly exhibited anti-social, psychopathic behaviors and was extremely violent. She had no remorse for her violent and indecent behaviors. There was NO depth in the characterization. Perhaps there was supposed to be, but the actress who played the role totally failed in showing any depth. She was one of the LEAST likable protagonists I've seen in a movie. At the end of the movie, she chose to destroy a building with a bulldozer, which could hurt someone. A serious crime, again. I really couldn't care less about her.

I don't really see a story of a conflict between classes or inequality. This is a story of two destructive individuals who could not control themselves and bring them down into a spiral. The director was seriously confused in this movie and was completely lost in his own intended narrative, which is a shame because he does have several good movies on his credit. This is a very hollow movie without anything in it. I don't think you will miss anything if you choose to skip it, and I strongly encourage you to skip it.

Director shot self in foot

[Speekeezy · 8/10 · 30 April 2023]

Like a lot of other reviewers have said, Kim Hye-yoon's acting is superlative. She rocks the role and carries the film.

There are a few key elements that simply don't add up though. That Kim Hye-yoon's character makes a lot of bad decisions may be excused by her upbringing, her youth and the fact that she was grieving. However, the director seems to want viewers to sympathize with her father, a lame-a$$ loser who gambled away the family's meagre means, was deeply in debt to loan sharks and just about everyone else, happy to scam medical and life insurance and naive in the first degree. And we can't gloss over the fact that he was ship-faced and driving when he hit a pedestrian, albeit a stupid one. There are no extenuating circumstances: he was drunk. And yet, the director gives him - well, his daughter - a whopping $350,000 court-ordered insurance payout even though he was 100% at fault AND his various insurance policies were invalid. So just what is the director's message? That the poor aren't as downtrodden as all that? That the system is working just fine? That crime DOES pay? The Disney finish, it all works out in the end?

Movie ending...

[parniannemati · 9/10 · 16 January 2024]

The fact that she tried so hard to just do something and in the end it was their restaurant that easily crashed by the bulldozer but again nothing happened to that bad man s home makes me feel so sad just like the time she wanted to burn the money in that bad man s home but couldn't do it again. And the ending scene was so sad which she realized that her father actually committed suicide.

The acting was so realistic and the father daughter bound was getting stronger by the movie was passing although she signed for her father death and waited with her brother to him to die that scene can really make you cry.