Jung_E

Jung_E (Korean: 정이), stylised as JUNG_E, is a 2023 South Korean science fiction film written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho, starring Kang Soo-yeon, Kim Hyun-joo, and Ryu Kyung-soo.[4] The film features the final film appearance of Kang Soo-yeon, who died ahead of its release.[5] A dedication to her appears at the end of the film.[6] It premiered on January 20, 2023, on Netflix.[7]

Jung_E
Promotional poster
Hangul
정이
Revised RomanizationJeongi
Directed byYeon Sang-ho
Written byYeon Sang-ho
Produced byByun Seung-min
Starring
Edited byYang Jin-mo
Music byKim Dong-wook
Production
companies
Climax Studio[1]
Dexter Studio[2]
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • January 20, 2023 (2023-01-20)
Running time
99 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Budget
  • KRW20 billion[3]
  • (est. $16.3 million)

Plot

Jung_E portrays a desolated Earth in the 22nd century that is no longer habitable due to climate change, and humans are forced to live in man-made shelters and built-in space. As the humans settle in around 80 of those shelters, three of them declare themselves as the Adrian Republic, attack Earth and other shelters, and cause a civil war between the Allied Forces and the Adrian Republic.

Captain Yun Jung-yi is a legendary mercenary of the Allied Forces who led her team to countless successful missions against the Adrian Republic. She has a little daughter, Yun Seo-hyun, who suffers from a lung tumor, and Jung-yi became a mercenary to afford her daughter's medical treatments. The day Seo-hyun gets the surgery, Jung-yi fails her mission and ends up in a coma. Kronoid, an institute in charge of developing AI technologies, convinces her family to agree to clone her brain, promising that they will cover Jung-yi's treatments, her daughter's education and living expenses.

Thirty-five years later in 2194, Kronoid clones Jung-yi's brain to develop an AI mercenary, code-named Jung_E. Dr. Yun Seo-hyun is the team leader of research project Jung_E and seeks to memorialize Jung-yi as a hero rather than a failure. Researchers at Kronoid have copied Jung-yi's brain data and put them in Android bodies. Through simulations of Jung-yi's final mission, they try to extract combat memory data that could be used to develop an exceptional combat AI. Just like Captain Jung-yi failed her last mission, AI JUNG_E also fails in every simulation of the last mission.

Seo-hyun learns that her childhood cancer has returned, and she only has three months left to live. She also learns through the chairman of Kronoid that there is no need to develop combat AI anymore because the Adrian Republic and Allied Forces are entering a treaty. With peace approaching, the company has decided to focus on household services. Seo-hyun discovers one of her team members with a scantily clad Jung_E robot in his apartment, but he claims that Kronoid has tasked him with investigating using the Jung_E models as sex robots. After the last simulation of project Jung_E, Seo-hyun escapes the facility with a Jung_E robot while other combat robots and security forces chase them. Kim Sang-Hoon, the project's director, is revealed to also be a robot with an AI brain. Kim shoots Seo-hyun as she and the Jung_E robot flee via elevated rail. The Jung_E robot fights him off, and he is destroyed when his part of the train falls to the ground. Seo-hyun urges Jung_E to leave her and survive. After surprising Seo-hyun by showing affection, Jung_E escapes and looks around on top of a rock in a mountain range.

Cast

Main
The team leader at Kronoid Laboratory, the research institute responsible for JUNG_E's clones and combat power tests. She is the daughter of Captain Yun Jung-yi, who entered a coma as a child.
Captain Yun Jung-yi was a leader of the Allied Forces and was once considered a war hero. During her last mission, she is critically injured and ends up in a coma. Decades later in 2194, her brain data is cloned and used to develop an advanced combat AI, codenamed JUNG_E.
He is the director of Kronoid Laboratory and is driven to succeed in the brain cloning experiment. He is a robot created by the chairman of Kronoid Laboratory that believes himself to be human.

Special appearance

Production

Kim Hyun-joo and Ryu Kyung-soo also appeared in director Yeon Sang-ho's previous work, 2021 Netflix series Hellbound.[14][15]

Filming

Filming began in November 2021 and concluded in January 2022.[5]

Reception

Audience response

A day later after its release, Jung_E took the first place globally on Netflix's film category.[16][17] Subsequently it debuted at the first place in Netflix's global Top 10 movie (non-English) category for the week of January 16 to 22, entering the Top 10 list in a total of 80 countries and recording 19 million hours viewed.[18][19]

Critical response

Jung_E received "mixed or average reviews" on Metacritic. The site rated it 53/100 based on five reviews.[20] On Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 24 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review, and the average rating was 5.5/10.[21]

Reviewing for NME, Hidzir Junaini graded the film with 3 stars out of 5 and described the film as "extremely streamlined, contained almost entirely within the A.I. research lab, and focused on a heartrending mother-daughter relationship." Junaini praised the performance of Kang Soo-yeon and Kim Hyun-joo as well as the action sequences, VFX designs, CGI, and practical effects.[22] Rohan Naahar writing for The Indian Express rated the film with 3 out of 5, appreciating the storyline and criticizing the premise.[23]

References
  1. Jeong Yoo-jin (December 29, 2022). "연상호 '정이', 메인 포스터…A.I. 용병 김현주와 연구소 팀장 故 강수연 [N컷]" [Yeon Sang-ho 'Jeongi', main poster... AI mercenary Kim Hyeon-joo and the late Kang Su-yeon, the research team leader [N-cut]]. News1 (in Korean). Retrieved December 29, 2022 – via Naver.
  2. Kim Bo-young (January 26, 2023). "덱스터스튜디오, '정이' VFX 작업…글로벌 1위에 함께 주목" [Dexter Studio, 'Jungi' VFX work... Pay attention to the global No. 1 together]. E-Daily Star (in Korean). Retrieved January 26, 2023 – via Naver.
  3. Lee Ki-beom (January 21, 2023). "거리두기 없는 첫 설 연휴…넷플릭스·티빙·웨이브에서 뭐볼까?" [The first Lunar New Year holiday without distance... What to watch on Netflix · Teabing · Wave?]. News 1 (in Korean). Retrieved January 21, 2023 – via Naver.
  4. "연상호 감독 SF '정이', 강수연·김현주·류경수 캐스팅..넷플릭스 제작 확정". Break News (in Korean). July 7, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  5. Kang Ae-ran (May 7, 2022). "강수연 유작 '정이'에 관심…연상호 감독의 넷플릭스 SF 영화" [Interested in Kang Su-yeon's posthumous work 'Jungi'... Netflix sci-fi film directed by Yeon Sang-ho] (in Korean). Yunhap News. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Naver.
  6. https://netflixlife.com/2023/01/20/jung-e-netflix-who-kang-soo-yeon-dedication-explained/
  7. Jung Hee-yeon (December 21, 2022). "故 강수연 유작 '정이' 23년 1월 20일 공개 확정 [공식]" [The late Kang Soo-yeon's posthumous work 'Jeongi' confirmed to be released on January 20, 2023 [Official]]. Sports Donga (in Korean). Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  8. Lee Myung-soo (July 7, 2021). "'월드 스타' 강수연, 영화 '정이'로 스크린 복귀한다" ['World Star' Kang Soo-yeon to return to the screen with the movie 'Jung-i']. Herald Economy (in Korean). Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Naver.
  9. Lee Seul (January 3, 2023). "故강수연, 유작 '정이' 속 그리운 얼굴" [The late Kang Soo-yeon's missing face in her posthumous work 'Jung E'] (in Korean). Asian Economy. Retrieved January 3, 2023 – via Naver.
  10. Kim Bo-ra (July 6, 2021). "김현주, '정이' 주인공 낙점…연상호 감독 '지옥' 이어 두 번째 만남[공식]" [Kim Hyun-joo, the main character of 'Jung-i'... Second meeting after director Yeon Sang-ho's 'Hell' [Official]]. OSEN (in Korean). Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Naver.
  11. Kim Gun-woo (July 8, 2021). "스튜디오산타클로스 "류경수, 넷플릭스 SF 영화 '정이' 주연 확정"" [Studio Santa Claus "Kyung-soo Ryu confirmed to star in Netflix sci-fi movie 'Jeong-i'"]. Money Today (in Korean). Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Naver.
  12. "[애프터스크리닝] '정이' 故강수연의 유작이 좋은 의미와 메시지를 담아서 더없이 감사한 작품 ★★★" [[Afterscreening] The posthumous work of the late 'Jeongi' Kang Soo-yeon has a good meaning and message, so I am extremely grateful ★★★]. MBC entertainment (in Korean). January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023 – via Naver.
  13. Choi Seo-ah (January 21, 2023). "故 강수연 유작, 넷플릭스 '정이' 줄거리·출연진·원작·정보·평점은?". Jeju Traffic Welfare Newspaper (in Korean). Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  14. Kwon Gil-yeo (December 1, 2021). "'지옥' 주인공 김현주, 차기작도 연상 호 감독과 함께 한다" ['Hell' main character Kim Hyeon-joo will also be working with director Yeon Sang-ho for his next film.] (in Korean). Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Naver.
  15. Kang Ae-ran (July 6, 2021). "연상호 감독 신작 '정이' 넷플릭스 제작…강수연 스크린 복귀" [Director Yeon Sang-ho's new movie 'Jung-i' is being produced on Netflix... Kang Su-yeon returns to the screen]. Yunhap News (in Korean). Retrieved March 18, 2022 – via Naver.
  16. "TOP Movies on Netflix on October 22, 2022". Fix Patrol. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  17. Kim Jeong-jin (January 22, 2023). "'정이', 넷플릭스 공개 하루 만에 세계 1위" ['Jung Yi' ranks #1 in the world on the first day it was released on Netflix] (in Korean). Yonhap News. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via Naver.
  18. "Top Ten Films (Non-English) JANUARY 16 - JANUARY 22, 2022". top10.netflix.com (in Korean). Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  19. Cho Yong-jun (January 25, 2023). "'Jung_E' tops Global Top 10 Most Popular Films chart on Netflix". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved January 25, 2023 – via Naver.
  20. "JUNG_E Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  21. "Jung_E". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  22. Hidzir Junaini (January 20, 2023). "'JUNG_E' review: 'Universal Soldier' meets 'Westworld' in this South Korean sci-fi dystopia". NME. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  23. Rohan Naahar (January 21, 2023). "Jung-E movie review: Train to Busan director's new Netflix action film is a slick and sentimental surprise". Indian Express. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
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