K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025) Dir: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang
- Ridley Coote
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
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I think it is only fair that I preface this review by telling you that I am not a K-pop listener or fan. I have nothing against it as a genre, but it's just not my thing. I had no intention of watching this Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang directed animated fantasy film initially, but a wave of very positive reviews from a wide array of people convinced me to give it a go. With that said, I still wasn't really sure how I would feel about it.
Being, rather unusually, a musical action film of sorts, a lot of it played like a series of music videos, and deliberately so. I liked it to an extent, but there were times where it got a little too over-the-top and cheesy for my tastes. The music itself was rhythmic and fun, and matched the energy of the vibrant animation with ease. The film was made by the same animation studio as the Spiderverse films, and it showed. The animation was stunning. The film was full of exciting and smooth action sequences, which were matched only by the catchy and memorable songs that accompanied them.
The narrative was all a little predictable and cheesy, but it was solidly entertaining, regardless. I loved the visual gags and infectious energy of the film and its characters - it was so fun and silly in all the best ways. The enemy to lovers trope was very heavy-handed, but it was functional, and provided some enjoyable moments within the story. I would have liked the other two band members to have felt a little more important, but I can see why the decision was made to focus in on the lead vocalist.
Arden Cho's leading vocal performance was excellent. Her charisma came across in abundance, and her singing was just incredible. I was very impressed by what she brought to the film, which includes her comedic chops. I found her delivery of the more humorous dialogue extremely amusing. This was a very impressive performance all-around.
As I spoke about above, the characters played by May Hong and Ji-young Yoo got a little sidelined in the story, but the vocal performances of the two actresses were still pretty strong. I felt the comradery between them very clearly, which made both of them, as well as Cho, more endearing. I thought both women sang very well too, and exhibited their tremendous voices on a number of occasions.
I wasn't totally sold on Ahn Hyo-seop's character, but the man's voice acting was solid. There was the occasional moment where it came across as though he was taking himself too seriously, but these weren't too common, in fairness. As for other actors whose voice performances warranted a mention, the likes of Yunjin Kim, Ken Jeong, and Lee Byung-hun sprung to mind, although, I will say, I wasn't entirely convinced by Lee at all times.
Overall, I thought this was ninety minutes of super fun fantasy action, which was so easy to watch, even without any investment in the k-pop world. This was a really nice twist on both the k-pop and fantasy genres of their respective mediums, and made for one of the better animated films, and Netflix original films, I've watched this year. I'd even be up for a sequel, if that ever happened.
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