Cast Member: Song Jae-Ho

‘BA:BO’ may be slickly shot and handled by a mostly photogenic cast, though it is undoubtedly easy to become immersed in its world.

Though historical events tend to be notoriously difficult to translate to the screen and despite needless contrivances, ‘May 18’ is an unforgettable two hours that deserves many of the plaudits it has received.

This would-be Blockbuster is all kinds of insane silliness and tone varying madness but is actually a whole lot of over-the-top action fun.

The laid back approach to proceedings will certainly be enjoyed by some but the film seems to take too long to get going anywhere, the suspense often diluted by a meandering pace.

It hits all the disaster movies tropes and delivers some spectacular sequences of destruction, mayhem and general disaster insanity.

Nice effects work and one awesome giant wave but a whole load of tedious drama unfortunately means ‘Tidal Wave’ is sunk before it even starts.

There is, therefore, no surprises in this Korean blockbuster. Yet the winning entertainment value that Kwon Hyeok-Jae imbues his film with renders all of these minor inconveniences mostly irrelevant.