In an alternate timeline, Netflix¡¯s ¡°Human Vapor¡± might have been one of this year¡¯s grandest summer blockbusters. It still is, in a way ¡ª just on the small screen.
This big-budget reboot of a classic 1960 Japanese sci-fi movie started out as a collaboration between Toho Studios and South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho (of ¡°Train to Busan¡± fame) before the streaming giant got involved during the COVID-19 pandemic. A planned film became an eight-part series, without skimping on the cinematic spectacle.
Co-written by Yeon and Ryu Yong-jae and directed by Shinzo Katayama, ¡°Human Vapor¡± embraces the legacy of Toho¡¯s tokusatsu (special effects) movies as enthusiastically as Takashi Yamazaki did with ¡°Godzilla Minus One¡± (2023) ¡ª but with a dynamism and mastery of genre that¡¯s more typical of South Korean fare.
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