Natural City

How long : 2h

Foreword

It is a science fiction film. It tells about some cyborgs who want to control the human world before they expire as they want to be the real humans.

Story

A future cop R (Yoo Ji-Tae) is a member of the cyborg-hunting team. He is a rash man who quarrels with his superior, Noma (Yoon Chan) frequently. Their main mission is to get rid of a deviant cyborg Cypher (Jong Doo-Hong). Cyborgs are powerful creatures but when R or Noma appears, they are no match for them.

R contradicts himself as he also keeps a cyborg. Most maunfactured cyborgs are soldiers to help the army. They can also become cops. Female ones are dancers or serve the lonely males so R gets one for himself. They have a limited 3 year lifespan so some owners use illegal technology to increase their intelligence to prolong their use by stealing human's DNA.

R’s companion Ria (Seo Rin), has only days to live. R is deeply in love with her. Ria is a cyborg dancer but now her movements become slow. Once expired, she must be recycled or thrown away. R wants to save Ria from being discarded. He goes around beating bar owners when they reject his request to let Ria do her last dance stinct.

Through secret investigation, he decides to kidnap a prostitute, Cyon (Lee Jae-Eun), whose DNA can help Ria. He seeks help for a transfer that will be performed by a mad scientist, Dr. Giro. R is unaware that Cypher is also looking for Cyon and Dr Giro is also very eager to use her for another secret motive of his.

Noma gives R lots of chances although everyone opposes to R helping a cyborg. They don't see why he should do this as her fate is sealed. But R is so defiant that he kills people who stands in his way. All think that he behaves no different from the deviant cyborgs now by going against them.

R brings Cyon home after destroying her apartment. He passes Cyon's chip to Dr Giro, expecting him to make the rransfer soon. Meanwhile, deviant cyborgs continue to create trouble for other cops. They suspect a mastermind and track him down. Through investigation, Roma realizes that Dr Giro is actually Cypher. Both have the same DNA as Cyon. The one with R is actually a normal cyborg – a replica that Dr Giro has created.

So it can't help R at all. Roma sees R with the replica. Roma destroys it and R gets mad to strike him. Roma then reveals that Cypher is running after Cyon for her DNA too so R yells in the rain.

Ria is jealous of Cyon and tells her to move. She leaves and R jumps as he returns for another chip of hers. R must choose between staying with Ria to spend with her her last days or to help his friends. Cypher has now taken over the police headquarters with the help of a female cyborg cop. The pair has build their own army of cyborgs to battle the cops. The cops are outnumbered and they are in danger now.

R makes the latter choice. He disregards Roma’s requests earlier. R returns only after Noma and his men are dead for a selfish reason. Cypher has captured Cyon and is about to get her DNA. Cyon is now trapped in a machine. R eliminates them but is also killed. Before dying, he places the important chip on Cyon’s hand and requests her to save Ria.

But Cyon is late to reach his apartment and Ria has stop functioning as the screws lossen from her head. Cyon buries the two together on a plot of land facing the sea – hoping that they will be happy together now.

Conclusion :

It has lots of computer effects but is still a very disappointing movie. It follows many science fiction movies in style. But it is restricted to the bland romance between R and his cyborg. Yoo Ji-Tae's R is a brat whose acts should not be ignored and must land in jail. How many errors has he made? Why is he not upset that his colleagues are all killed and he only bothers himself with Ria?

How can his best friend and boss Noma be so forgiving? R keeps killing his men as he races through flooded streets to chases after Cyon but he can ignore this! R breaks every law although he wears the cop pass. Why is R obsessed with saving Ria which is a machine who hardly showers him love? I am not convinced as the director does not attempt to explain.

I only enjoy the process where cyborgs are created. They look enchanting with many parts fixed to them. R and Roma should have exchanged their roles. Roma is more likeable than R who is simply a killer machine. Almost all Korean movies provide us with tragedies. There is no exception for this one. The filmmakers keep giving all their characters a death sentence. Each role has a blank expression throughout –are they becoming cyborgs in real life?