Awake not Woke!

A Korean crime thriller and I guess dark comedy. The first episode is pretty confusing. Lots of random flashbacks along with character hallucinations that make it hard to follow. Some pretty good acting and a decent idea, at least in theory. This would of worked better as a movie than a series. It's just to slow and drawn out. Every episode gets more and more implausible and ridiculous with the coincidences. I watched the first 3 episodes and while it's somewhat interesting just not enough to hold my attention. The main character is just not likable at all and that doesn't help. He's such a pathetic beta and while it makes sense with the character I just started getting annoying with him after a bit. It's not really woke in those episode but there is some low level feminism that could potentially get worse as the series goes along.

Another old-school throwback type, there's been a lot of these lately. There was a surge of these types of movies in the late 80's early 90's. Creature/monster horror/comedy with over the top gross shock gore as the selling point. They were never really scary and this isn't either. The acting is average and it uses mostly if not all practical FX that are very hit or miss. The humor is just not funny though and despite only 75 minutes long it gets old and boring rather fast. They also made some really strange setting choices. All the music is 80's as is the home décor but there is a PlayStation 1 hooked up to a modern flat screen TV playing a movie from 2011 on it. Everyone has cell phones and all the cars are modern. It's weird and makes little sense as does a lot of this movie. It's silly dumb and unfortunately just not that good. There's some DEI casting in the only 2 female actors under 80. 1 is mixed race Philippine and the other mixed race Chinese. One is set up as a love interest for the white son.

Feels a lot like the late 90's early 2000's screwball, misfit character/redemption comedies. An Apple TV movie I had never heard of yet was surprised how much I liked it. If you like those types of movies you will probably like this. Same characters, humor, general feel. The humor for the most part is good. There is a few cringe scenes but it manages to keep them to a minimum. There is maybe a little DEI in the casting, there is no race baiting or anything brought up but it's there. Also one scene about 30 seconds or so where a character dismantles the entire covid hypocrisy with a comparison to the 'dangers of pickleball over tennis.' It's clearly a joke but if you don't like anything that can be considered 'political' it's about 30 seconds to a minute and that's it.

A darker, more adult-toned adaptation

Even though the animation still looks a lot like the old Batman: The Animated Series that used to be on TV, the storytelling feels a bit grittier and way more faithful to the comics. Honestly, it’s really solid. Zero woke. Really good adaptation. Hope part 2 drops soon.