By Nick Nitkowski

Well, this was an unexpected surprise. For context’s sake, I am not a fan of K-pop, but I am aware of its existence as well as its appeal to the masses. But what I am a fan of is animation and good storytelling. Luckily, “KPop Demon Hunters”, an animated Netflix movie made by Sony Animation, who changed the animation game with “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, provides both. This movie wasn’t even on my radar, but word of mouth quickly spread everywhere that it became unavoidable, and I had to see it for myself if only just to see what all the hype was about. 

“KPop Demon Hunters” is pretty straightforward with its title. It’s about a trio of famous female K-pop stars whose combined voices shield the population from demons. When they’re not performing on stage for their fans, they are off slaying the demons that lurk throughout the city looking to snatch the souls of innocent bystanders. But they soon find themselves competing against a K-pop boyband who happen to be demons in disguise with nefarious purposes. 

Like I said previously, this movie was never even on my radar. Therefore, I didn’t really have any expectations for it. I just sat down and let the movie do what it was going to do. It couldn’t possibly disappoint me. But after watching it, I can easily say that it definitely surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to have this much fun watching this movie. 

Much like “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, “KPop Demon Hunters” has a 3D animation style that’s all its own. The colors were vibrant, and everything on screen was interesting to look at. No dull colors or boring shots could be found in this movie. Even the world of the demons had its own vibrance. There is style packed into every frame of this movie. That same unique animation style helped contribute to both the action sequences and the humor of the movie.

For example, the movie would have multiple moments throughout where characters’ faces are over-expressive in a very fun way, like watching an anime. Moments like that got a sudden burst of laughter out of me more than once. The action sequences were also fun and filled with stylized fighting and filled with vibrant colors. Not only that, but there was also plenty of well animated and interesting dance choreography, which paired well with the songs in the movie.

Speaking of which, I was very surprised by how catchy these songs were in the movie. The songs are in English for anyone worried about that. As I said earlier in the review, I’ve never been a fan of K-pop music. I’ve always been a rock-n-roll style fan as well as a few musicals from Broadway that I enjoy, but every once in a while, some songs from other genres that I don’t listen to on the regular manage to catch my ear and the songs in here definitely did a great job at catching mine. There wasn’t a single song in this movie that made me want to cringe at all.

Moving on to the singing and voice acting in the movie, everyone did a great job with their roles. People often complain about there being no original ideas being made in Hollywood because the studios behind them are afraid that they won’t make money, kind of like Disney and PIXAR’s “Elio”, so they rely on the star power of well-known celebrities to help boost sales. But if there’s one thing that series like “Squid Game” or even movies like this one have taught me, it is that you don’t always need star power to help boost your movie. Among this cast of voices in this movie, I only recognized three names, and they were not leads of the movie. And yet, everyone involved did a great job bringing the characters to life.

Overall, “KPop Demon Hunters” was a very pleasant surprise that I was not expecting. I can now see why everyone is raving about it. It has stylized animation that is also unique, with lots of bright colors filled with action, dancing, and catchy songs. And with the movie clocking in at just under an hour and a half long, it definitely does not overstay or under stay its welcome. I do think that perhaps this movie should have gotten a fair chance to be seen and enjoyed on the big screen, but studios tend to throw content on streaming platforms when they’re not sure what to do with it. I would recommend seeing it for yourself and seeing what you think about it as it is currently streaming on Netflix now.

KPop Demon Hunters is currently streaming on Netflix

4 ½ stars