All around the world, musicians and rock stars are being elected to their respective countries' highest offices. Paul McCartney is running for Prime Minister of England; Madonna's being tapped as the VP in the United States. The current prime minister and head of the army in Korea are disturbed by this trend, and concoct Emergency Order 19 to deal with the problem: ban all music. The film is famous for the many pop music celebrity cameos it features.
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I was actually intrigued by the premise of the movie before watching it because it was an obvious two-tier satire (one on the oppressive and ridiculous government South Koreans had to endure for a while prior to the film coming out, and the other on the censorship controversy with the singers). The movie had potential, and some talented Korean directors in the future should seriously consider making a remake. The film suffers from ridiculous acting, horrible script (never heard the word "Sshibal" so frequently in any movies... while it is understood as a protest to the censorship, it is horribly executed), no plot, and disappointing performance from one of my top 10 actresses, Gong Hyo Jin.So unless you are extremely familiar with the Korean pop culture and know who the singers are in the movie, you'll be completely lost. And even when you know who they are, the only good part of the movie would be to see them try to act, which is kinda funny to see as a fan.
In the future, not too far away, Madonna wins the election in the USA and becomes the President of the United States of America. Strange? Obviously not if you are the leader of Korea. Suddenly all Korean pop singers are potential candidates for the next presidency and therefore dangerous criminals. The "Emergency Act 19" declares pop music illegal and starts a nation-wide search for pop stars and starlets. To make matters worse, the secretary of state (or some other guy who gives out orders, it really doesn't matter) has the obligatory rebelling daughter who immediately starts a campaign to save her beloved stars. The movie itself suffers from, well, everything. It starts with the lack of a plot line and doesn't end with the lack of decent actors. The girl, although treated as the main actress, has the charm of a brick and about the same significance. Kim JangHoon, the main singer-turned-actor, does mainly swear and complain. Along with singer Hong KyungMin, he participates in one of the most boring scenes in the history of movies. Why would anyone spend money on such a movie? Well, Shinhwa fans would. Or fans of Baby VOX, KangTa, Harisu, ClickB and various other Korean stars who have about 30 to 60 seconds screen time each. If you are madly in love with Hyori, you will gladly fast forward through the two hours of boredom. The scenes with the stars are all somewhat cute and surely watchable for fans, but it would be a torture for anyone else.