Opening Day: 10 April 2008

Synopsis:

Law student Eun-sik and beautiful swimming champion Kyung-ah (Princess Hours’ Song Ji-hyo) are a campus couple. But Eun-sik has not been able to get past kissing. Still in pursuit of “getting laid”, he lets out his sexual frustration by overly working out at the gym and is now used to taking care of it himself.

On the other had, Sung-kook, a long-time college student and the leader of the school’s K-1 fighting club, shares quarters with the members of the girls’ swimming club. He freely indulges in his sexual desires with the beautiful girls of the swimming club.

After learning about Eun-sik’s troubles, Sung-kook sets out to help Eun-sik get what he wants the most. But even with Sung-kook’s guidance, Eun-sik experiences one disaster after another, and even gets mistaken for a pervert. As Eun-sik is preoccupied with finding ways to sleep with Kyung-ah, a new guy enters the picture, Kyung-ah’s childhood sweetheart. Not only could Eun-sik not find ways to sleep with Kyung-ah, he might end up losing her altogether.

Movie Review:

It's encouraging to see that the Korean movie industry is thriving these days, especially when it is churning out good films across different genres. This time, we have "Sex is Zero 2", a romantic comedy with the right mix of wacky sex jokes and romance.

The story picks up where the first "Sex is Zero" movie left off. Having broken up with his girlfriend, law student Eun-sik (Im Chang-jung) was so depressed that he got admitted to a mental hospital. It was there that he got to know Kyung-ah (Song Ji-hyo), a fellow patient who happened to be a female swimming champion studying at the same university as Eun-sik. Fast forward three years later to the present, they are now a couple with their most intimate physical relationship limited to kissing. Sung-kook, Eun-sik's mentor in his university K-1 fighting club, tries to help Eun-sik in his quest to sleep with Kyung-ah, only to get Eun-sik into embarrassing situations. Eun-sik and Kyung-ah's relationship is then put to the test when Gi-joo, Kyung-ah's childhood sweetheart intervenes.

I have not seen "Sex is Zero", so I can only review its sequel on its own merits without comparing them both. Thankfully, it is not a must to have any knowledge of the previous movie. In addition to Eun-sik and Kyung-ah, we get to see their respective fellow clubmates in their own quests for sexual satisfaction. Sung-kook also has his own dilemma over his girlfriend and a hot-looking babe who are both coaches in Kyung-ah's swimming club.

"Sex is Zero 2" is filled with interesting characters. Some of them are so over the top that they make the movie seem like a live-action anime. Of course, I can't avoid mentioning the various sex gags which are hilariously executed. I won't spoil the fun by revealing them in great detail here, but let me say that you won't see a lollipop the same way ever again after watching this movie.

I must applaud the director and screenwriter for not letting the sex jokes overshadow the romantic elements of the story and keeping the viewers enticed to see what happens to Eun-sik and Kyung-ah in the end. The cast is commendable for their acting as well. Their comedic performance is excellent while for the romantic scenes, Im Chang-jung and Song Ji-hyo convey enough emotions to make viewers care for their well-developed characters.

The only minor letdown for me is that Im Chang-jung looks old when compared to his young fellow cast members, giving the feel that he and Song Ji-hyo are rather mismatched. It's a good thing I don't expect romantic comedies to be believable on all accounts. Thus, it's best to just suspend your disbelief, sit back and immerse yourself in the fun. "Sex is Zero 2" does to Korean cinema what "American Pie" did to Hollywood. In fact, I enjoy watching "Sex is Zero 2" so much that I will do my best to see its prequel to find out what I have missed.

Movie Rating:

(Sex is Zero 2 definitely does not earn a zero score in the entertainment test, and passes with flying colours instead)

Review by Tan Heng Hau