Alienoid: The Return to the Future
Dong-hoon Choi gives us a brief recap of the events of 2022’s “Alienoid” as he kicks off the narrative of Part 2, “The Return to the Future,” and as someone who hasn’t had a chance to rewatch the first film since late 2022, it’s good to remind me of where the story left off. And then, there are directions he takes in this film that just made me giddy with pleasure. Taken as a whole, I’m not entirely sure if everything made a lick of sense, but the characters, the story, and the world won me over.
The film begins as the red cloud has appeared over Seoul. Ean (Kim Tae-ri), a young girl, has found her way into the 14th Century during the Goryeo Dynasty when Guard and Thunder are thrust back in time. She is searching for the Devine Blade which, when thrust into the alien ship in the future, can repair the rift through time and space, as well as destroy the aliens causing all of this mayhem.
Most of the main characters from the first film come back, in one way or another, but as the film progresses, we start to understand more about the nature of their being. In a world where past and future, mysticism and technology, are equal bedfellows, it’s not surprising to see some of the typical time travel paradoxes come into play. If you enjoyed the first film, I’d find it unlikely you’ll be disappointed here. We see more of Mureuk (Ryu Jun-Yeol), the dosa who- along with Ean- are searching for the Blade. We see a dosa couple who gets thrust into the action in both past and present, as well as a blind swordsman who has a connection to the modern day.
“The Return to the Future” does cover new ground in terms of story, and follows the first film in the hours after the cloud formed over Seoul, and ten years after Ean, Guard and Thunder landed in the past, but one of the things I love about sequels like this is when we see different perspectives and angles of moments from the previous film. That gives us a fuller picture of the story, and of the world, and Choi deftly choreographs things well. His film continues the original’s energy, ambition, sense of tone (adding welcome humor to an end-of-the-world premise) and the technique brought to his film. By the end, there’s even some emotion, as all the pieces start to click into place. This is a case of a planned follow-up that builds off of the original, and maintains being its own thing, as well. The “Alienoid” series is already one of my favorites of this decade.
