Alienoid: The Return To The Future opens exclusively in theaters on Janaury 26 from Well Go USA.
Choi Dong-hoon continues the time-blazing two-part Alienoid saga that began in 2022, and now bookends with Alienoid: The Return To The Future. Actors Kim Tae-ri, Ryu Jun-yeol, Kim Woo-bin, Lee Ha-nee, Yum Jung-ah and Jo Woo-jin are among the new and returning cast roster for a story that lithely picks up after the events of the first film.
Alienoid explores the travails of robotic wards Guard and Thunder (dually played by Kim Woo-bin), who are charged with housing alien prisoners in human bodies. The inaugural chapter of the sci-fi saga explodes with a time travel twist that sees a parallel storyline unfold between Guard and Thunder and their care for an orphaned young girl, and a 14th-century tale of a budding wizard named Muruk (Ryu Jun-yeol) whose search for “the divine blade” reveals a mysterious connection between his past, and that of a beautiful gun-toting woman also looking for the blade.
The story eventually coralls all characters for an epic battle in both arcs that leave the movie on a harrowing cliffhanger with less than an hour until a spaceship detonates its load of “haava”, a cloudy substance that threatens to wipe out mankind while making Earth’s atmosphere breathable for the aliens. That’s where Alienoid: The Return To The Future comes in, reintroducing Min Gae-in (Lee Ha-nee), a customs agent who in the first film could have fooled everyone into thinking she was just a single mom who had the hots for Guard (Kim Woo-bin), while completely glib of his identity. Nope, turns out she much more sharper than that, and after helping the police arrest a suspect, finds herself even more involved when she learns of the aliens’ presence.
Meanwhile, seven centuries earlier, Muruk, and his mentors Heuk-seol (Yum Jung-ah) and Chung-woon (Jo Jin-woo) continues to struggle with the foreshadowing relevant to his shared past with E-an (Kim Tae-ri) and their fateful childhood meeting years earlier. As E-an continues her search for the blade, she’s also a target by the alien known as Jajang (Kim Eui-sung), and it’s not long before both timelines finds themselves converging, bringing things full circle as the efforts of a vengeful blind swordsman named Neung-pa (Jin Sun-kyu) adds to the shocking reveals ahead of an explosive confrontation between our heroes, and the elusive alien fugitive known as The Controller.
Admittedly, the last several moments of Alienoid left me perplexed at the thought of the story clashing between different timelines. There’s a moment in the first film right then that Choi’s sequel neglects to clarify to keep things coherent, so you’re not alone if you’re left feeling a tad confused as to how this story culminates with all that’s happened. Accordingly, Choi chooses to keep things simple and direct in his approach while keeping the story afloat in its delivery, as imaginably challenging as it must have been to maintain the balance of story elements between both films.
The result is less clear in storytelling, but one that keeps things up to par in story and ambition. The complicated romantic nuances between Muruk and E-an, the friendship and chemistry between our main characters and their quests to find the divine blade and their missing friends, and ultimately try to find a way to stop the aliens from unleashing the haava. Choi also manages to streamline the story using one of the key characters to spotlight the origins of Right Paw (Shin Jung-keun) and Left Paw (Lee Si-hoon), Muruk’s humanoid/cat companions who manifest from his fan on command.
The action sequences were crafted by Ryu Sung-chul who also worked on the first film. If you enjoyed Alienoid, then you’ll have plenty to take from what Ryu has to offer in the action scenes this time around – epic sword and wizard battles with a touch of gunplay in between, all amply packaged with the cast putting on a terrific showcase from start to finish. Jin’s portrayal of Neung-pa is a bright spot to look out for in connection with at least one key character whose involvement helps to propel the film forward to its big finish.
Indeed, Alienoid: The Return To The Future does have a slightly shorter run time which is a little telling in terms of what might have been at stake given that a film like this is still probably over the heads of local moviegoers. Alienoid is a concept that truly aims to be more than the average genre piece and probably stumbles in some areas the average viewer isn’t particularly receptive to, but there’s no denying the ambition and heart that went into making this two-part time traveling sci-fi action saga a reality. Choi’s sequel is imaginative, clever at times, peppered with terrific performances in the comedy and action arenas, and sprinkled with heart. If you don’t think Alienoid: The Return To The Future will measure up to your expectations, you’re welcome to watch it when it releases and decide for yourself. Alas, do watch it.
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