User reviews

The plot was strong and connected ,, proceeding with saving the soul of Kim Ja-hong during a long trial of 49 days ... and introducing the side story of the kid and the grandfather and their protector was a bold smart choice ,, and finally we know the truth and connection between the trio "Gang-rim, Hae Won-maeg and I Deog-chun" ... It was literally near perfection, the cinematography and visual effects were spot on ,, and even the script had more action than the first movie it still didn't lose the emotional dramatic part.

The cast was even better than last time ,, they now get along "in away" and you can feel the banter and back and forth comedic lines flying :D .

The final two scenes in the credits were amazing and shocking and a possible open gate for "finger crossed" a third and last movie to see how the story of "Kim Ja-hong" will finally end :)

A wonderful follow up to its predecessor, the movie picks up directly after the first. While I was doubtful on how they could make the story as compelling as the first one, this sequel delivers by focusing on the backstories of Ganglim and his crew. It also slowly builds around the previous story without retreading on the old plot. Furthermore, it also provides closure to the first part by seeing the aftermath of the events of the first movie. In fact, there are three layers of stories, the conclusion of the first part, Ganglim and his crew's backstories, and a new mission for the team while Ganglim is occupied. Jung-woo Ha returns as Ganglim and is every relatable while maintain a charismatic performance. Ji-Hoon Ju's character is given another side the audience has not seen, while the ever-likable Hyang-gi Kim's still shines. Dong Soek Ma's portrayal as the benevolent kitchen god is an great addition to the series, and his talent is not wasted. Plot-wise there are many twists and though some could be predicted, others are not. There are great after credit scenes too, and something that looks like the starting of a franchise. But the storytelling is still good, and most of the protagonists get to shine.

Do not watch this sequel without first watching the first one.

In terms of cinematics, there seems to be less compared with the first. Yet the drama, wit & humor are truly delightful.

By now, you would have probably heard of this unexpected hit of a South-Korean title. Yes, it already had all the makings of a blockbuster, but it surpassed even projections by pundits. Surpassing 10 million viewers in only 15 days, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds tripled returns of the US$36 million investment on the 2-parter, and became the second highest-grossing film of all time in Korea.

Most importantly, it will be remembered as "that emotional rollercoaster of a film that kept my waterworks going".

Given my history with the franchise, I prepared an extra packet of tissues for the viewing of the sequel. But sadly, I hardly used a piece. Although both titles were shot together, Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days feels like a distant product. It pushed up the sliders on scale and size, but lost the epic in their storytelling and pacing.

What happened, Director Kim Yong-hwa?

The film returns us to hell, and along with the three guardians Gang-lim (Ha Jung-woo), Haewonmak (Ju Ji-hoon) and Lee Deok-choon (Kim Hyang-gi), we now accompany new paragon Kim Soo-hong (Kim Dong-wook) - brother of first episode's paragon, Kim Ja-hong - through his trials.

While the first chapter had Ja-hong as the plot anchor, The Last 49 Days turns our attention to the 3 guardians and their mysterious past. This, to me, is where the sequel flounders.

It's not long before we splinter into various story arcs. There's the main story of the trio's pasts, retold through increasingly frustrating flashbacks that sometimes last no more than a minute. Then there's the added task from King Yeomra, which dispatches Haewonmak and Deok-choon to claim a long-overdue soul, Hur Choon-sam (Nam Il-woo).

Turns out the old fellow (who appears briefly in the first film) is protected by his ultra-powerful resident Household God Seongju (Ma Deok-seok). As the two guardians struggle to wrestle the deity into submission, they find out not only his reason for protecting his client, but also that he was an ex-guardian who was there at their own passing - thus a key to retrieving their memories.

Add to that, Gang-lim's supposed agenda is throwing in all his chips to get Soo-hong reincarnated, Soo-hong's own unwillingness to do so because he doesn't want to believe that his friends murdered him, Seongju's bout with failed investments and helping his actual charge (Choon-sam's grandson) to find a real guardian, and you have essentially a very diluted film. Even King Yeomra is not spared with his own little twist!

By sowing 49 Days with so much storyline, a deft director might still be able to measure out portions of steer his priorities in the right direction to maintain a strong plot with a moral compass like the first. But Kim dropped the hat on this one. The second episode flickers back and forth stories incoherently, and makes for a frustrating viewing.

Most annoying of all is Soo-hong's temperamental behaviour. It seems to serve only as a catalyst to drive Gang-lim's actions, and loses potency because of it. Gang-lim's own guilt-laden agenda is also slightly unbearable, given how it was obvious halfway what it was really all about.

While the film does still feature gorgeous graphics and settings, it has lost a slight shine from the first film's reveal. We get to see a new scene for Indolence Hell, but other new segments really raise eyebrows in the wrong way. One word - dinosaurs.

Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days stays on track in terms of a continuation, but the calibre is far more hollow than the first. You'll get to enjoy some light sobbing at the end, but this second chapter leaves no lasting impression.

Let's hope the next episode fares better. And yes, there will be one.

One of my acquaintance told me that the second movie is not as good as the first one. I.. disagree. It was heavy, yes. the story was great, a bit predictable but great. the first movie was like a fresh new idea for this kind of genre, but the second movie was like.. WOW If you love the first movie, you'll absolutely wanna watch the second one. Because this movie is the reason, the whole background story for the first movie. you wanna know how it happened, why and who is who. the 'who is who' part was a bit shocking for me :D wow.. it's been 2 hours since I watched the movie, I still have this.. heavy feeling. can't describe how much I love and adore the movies, and how great the story was. It's a must watch. *I knew it all along.. Yeomra*

If the first movie epitomises redemption, then the sequel dives headlong into forgiveness. Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds was a helluva ride through the underworld; the only misstep for me is how it went overboard with the ludicrous special effects. By that I mean how the vengeful spirit and Gang Rim go mano a mano with the city as their playground. The sequel, Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days, was shot together with the massively popular first film and it has become the second all-time box-office grosser in South Korea. However, it is an overstuffed shadow of the first film.

The sequel begins moments after the end of The Two Worlds, with the three guardians, Gang Rim (Ha Jung-woo), Haewonmak (Ju Ji-hoon) and Lee Dukchun (Kim Hyang-gi) guiding their 49th soul Kim Soo-hong (Kim Dong-wook), the brother of Kim Ja-hong, to the trials for his reincarnation. The stakes are higher because if it is successful, the three guardians will also be reincarnated.

King Yeomra (Lee Jung-jae), Lord of the Afterlife, agrees to a fair trail on the condition that Gang Rim proceeds with the case on his own, while Haewonmak and Dukchun go down to the world of humans to dispatch a troublesome housegod Sung-joo (Ma Dong-seok) and ascend an overdue soul.

The Last 49 Days has a lot to live up to and it just could not sustain under the weight of expectations set by its predecessor. The first half becomes a bit of a slog with the pacing largely going missing and the world-building taking a backseat. This is a case of lightning not being able to strike the same spot twice.

Firstly, the chemistry between the three guardians of the Afterlife went missing in the first two acts, partly because Gang Rim and his compatriots are separated. Like The Two Worlds, the narrative becomes two-pronged but sadly neither reaches the same dizzying levels. Soo-hong makes for an annoying and smart-alecky character, who doesn't garner the same sympathy as his brother, Ja-hong. It is a good move that the story doesn't go through the same process as Ja-hong but what takes its place doesn't make for compelling viewing, and dinosaurs don't help. Haewonmak and Dukchun fare better because of the intriguing character of Sung-joo, a superb casting choice. However, this time round the Stephen-Chow-resque slapstick comedy is a hit or miss.

Secondly, director Kim Yong-hwa couldn't quite find the right balance between the light fantastic and the hard-hitting drama, which led to pacing issues, so much so that I did the dreaded thing - I checked my watch.

However, all is not lost... when the story does hit the final act with the story of the three guardians revealed, it hits its groove. But still, one can't help but feel it came a little too late to save the movie.

#AlongWithTheGodsTheLast49Days it's much much more than we imagine or predict on this epic sequel, the story developed into something 'bigger' and you'll love the sequel more if you love the first one 9/10 #alongwiththegods2 #alongwiththegods #koreanmovie #movie #Dtkreview #moviereview

After a surprisingly good first movie (with tear jerking story lines); I had high expectations on the sequel. It didn't disappoint me but it's not as good as the first one either. Bad Points: The movie is full of cliche, drama , and coincidences that I am really watching a typical Asian drama movie. Seriously, almost all characters in the movie are connected to each other somehow with the little twist and there. In addition, this movie didn't develop the side characters really well. I understand the sequel focus is on the three guardians and their past but somehow the side characters which supposedly have major roles are sidelined and seems to exist to cater to the major story line. It's not very bad as they still have their moments, but I am just disappointed on this part of the movie.

Good Points: Cliche and drama moments aside, this movie carries a great message that it suppose to give to audiences; human values and forgiveness. I mentioned previously that I am not disappointed because this movie still gives out a great story line despite the cliches. If the first one gives u heavy water works, then this sequel gives u deeper understanding on forgiveness and human sins. The visual is great ; and the acting here is amazing which blends with the great story line.

Conclusion: This movie is great if you get pass all the typical Asian cliche drama because it got great story line, promising premise which can set a great universe , good settings and great acting. It might not be as great as the first one, but it's still a great movie to watch.

The second movie of the Along with the Gods series was entertaining, but not as good as the first one. Whethere the first one was backed with emotions and twists, this one was just a good movie about two things, the trial of the last movie's lead's brother and the past of the three grim reapers massed up in the story of a young boy and his grand father. The story about the boy and the background story on the three main characters were interesting and kind of sad. The trial part, however, failed to impress. And when all the stories came together, it was a quick and awkward mass up, concluding everything so we could move on to the next chapter about the othe soldier, whose story will be presented in the third movie. I just hope that the last one will be the best one. Other than that, the performances were really well by all the actors in the film and they actually looked natural. The special effects in addition, were decent and enjoyable. So, 7.5 out of 10, because it was a good movie, but it could have been better.

The director, Yong-hwa Kim, is not good at story-building for sure. The movie's technical aspect is applaudable. However, 'Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days' fails again to build a cohesive narrative after 'Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds'. There are three branches to the whole plot: 1) Sang-ju, grandpa, and grandson trying to survive from redevelopment demolition, 2) Three officials' entangled history, and 3) Su-hong's 49-days trials. It jumps around among these three sporadically and hastily. When one story is about to develop, and the audience starts immersing themselves, the movie flips the page and jumps to the next one, turning off any concentration and interest left in the viewers. The story is so crude and slow-paced that I figured out the twist at the ending halfway through.

Theme of the film is forgiveness, and it also tries to expose problems of urban renewal. However, I see that it touches on the subject but fails to deliver or dig deeper. Dialogues are supposed to be funny, but they fail as well because I can see the writer is trying too hard to make it funny that it's not at all funny.

Jurassic World and Pinocchio parts are just laughable. The first movie was praised for originality rooted in Korean folktales, and the second movie throws all that away and even copies Hollywood so bluntly and bodaciously.

Strongly recommended, good sequel though some scene is easy to predict. Still don't cover the fact that it's an awesome movie

Let's talk about the advantages and the disadvantages of the movie. The plot was unexpected but wonderful. The director connected the first with this film perfectly. In addition, the ending truly made me teary-eyed. It touched me a lot. Then I have to say some arrangement I don not understand. The first was the character Seongju God. I believed that director wanted to add this character to the second film to enrich the story. But this character was completely a tool man to promote the development of the plot. Moreover, the first half of the movie was full of low-grade jokes. They doesn't make me laugh, okay? ALL IN ALL, Sin-gwa ham-kke: In-gwa yeon was a good film. Its shortcomings could not cover its shining points. It was worth watching.

So exciting after seeing part one, recommend my friend to see it. After 15 min, begin to regret. after lead actor talk to many movie lines, my mind start to run away. Got two Story line, while Story A almost bring u to tears then Story B come out in a humorous way. Not sure is it the director want us to become 24 billy. Mixed confuse emotion. Really can't understand what they talk abt. So many good actor, problem lies with the story plot and lead actor. After seeing, my friend start to question my taste with the movie and never believe my recommendation again.

The visuals are really good, but the story is a bit confusing for me. This time, the story is more history than fantasy. Hence, without knowing Korean history, it's difficult to understand the story.

I had issues with the last film, mainly the writing, which felt incoherent. I had voiced my complaint in my earlier review too; therefore, it is good to see that they have rectified most of the of the problems here.

The action is more polished (visual too), the world has more layers, whilst emotional core remains intact.

However, what impressed me the most though is that they dedicated plenty of time to the 'Guardians' as the story wilfully courses back to each of their past lives and binds their souls in a millennium old connection.

I particularly like how they connected the dots, filled the gaps, and, in the process, made their 'afterlife' alliance meaningful.

Each character, message, scene together make the movie worth repeated viewings

Rated 85 on AWiki, AwtG49 is a 2018, 141-minute continuation of Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds. It picks up right where the first left off.

As the flick starts out, we learn that one of the Guardians has to go on trial for crimes that he committed while protecting our protagonist in the first film. (Who knew the Afterlife was so litigious? It's Hell, indeed). The other reapers are tasked with collecting a soul that's been protected well past his death date by an outlaw god, Sung Joo Shin (played by the adorable Ma Dong-Seok). God-Sung won't let the old man die before his orphan grandson graduates from school. Speaking of orphans, Korean features aren't kind to them and this trend continues here, sadly.

AwtG2🌏 follows Kim Ja-Hong, a fireman who dies in the line of duty. When he reaches the Gate of the Afterlife, where he can be reincarnated after completing seven trials: betrayal, violence, filial piety, murder, indolence, deceit, and injustice.

Much of the cast here is the same as AwtG2🌏. Why mess with excellence? Cha Tae-Hyun (Narco-Saints, Assassination,1987: When the Day Comes) is the lead, Kim Ja-Hong. Cha Tae Hyun (Team Bulldog: Off-duty Investigation, Moving) portrays Kim Ja Hong. The dolorous Ju Ji Hoon (Kingdom-8.3, Blood Free-8.5, Team Bulldog: Off-duty Investigation) is Hae Won Maek. Kim Hyang Gi (Innocent Witness, Salon De Nabi) plays Duk Choon, and the wonderful Ma Dong Seok (The Bros-7.4, Train to Busan-7.8, The Roundup, Bad Guys) plays outlaw deity Sung Joo Shin. Lee Jung Jae, the lead of Squid Game, portrays King Yum Ra God of Death. The screenwriter/director is Kim Yong Hwa (200 Pounds Beauty-6.5, The Moon).

AwtG49 is, all-around, more of the same. Same strengths, same weaknesses. Its biggest deductions come from a failure to fully explore its potential emotional range. The fighting is excellent with a particularly grand battle scene. The cinematography is beautiful. It's a great movie-night-movie.

If you enjoy fantasy, even though China is often guilty of sub-standard special effects, they still put out the best stuff in the world. Anyone who enjoys the AwtG films should like Douluo Continent-9.4 and Handsome Siblings-8.7 even more.

QUOTE📢

Those who meet must part at some point.

Re-watch? It's not unlikely

Age 14+ Language: PG-13 language, probably less than 5 occurrences.

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Crash Landing On You 9.1; Oh My Ghost 10; It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9; My Mister 9.5;

🎎 - C🇨🇳: Overlord 8.4, Under the Power 8.6, The Rebel Princess 9.1, The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style), The Rise of Phoenixes 9 K🇰🇷: My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy; Mr. Queen 8.5; My Sassy Girl 8.5; Saimdang-8.5, The King's Affection 8.3; Mr. Sunshine 9

🔮🐉- K🇰🇷: Alchemy of Souls-8.3,

C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9; Ancient Love Poetry 8.6; Love and Redemption 10

⚡/😱 - C🇨🇳: Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!; K🇰🇷: Mystic Pop-up Bar-8.2, K2 8; Uncanny counter season-1 only °S1-8.4 S2-4, Private Lives 8.1; Sisyphus 8; Tunnel 8.1; Train to Busan-7.8, Signal 8.6; The Man From Nowhere 8.9, Black 9; Squid Game 8.4; Kingdom 8.3; Sweet Home 8.4.

What a beautiful, powerful movie! Aside from being very entertaining, it delivers a strong, humane message about pain, forgiveness, hope, love, and caring for people; to quote some of the best quotes of the movie: "There are no bad people, only bad circumstances" "Everyone you meet will go away some day". - Reminds us of our own mortality, and to be kind to one another, for our time on this earth is finite. At least my two cents on the matter. A beautiful movie. I loved it. I recommend it.

I watched this immediately after having finished the first part and honestly, it was about as good as the first one. It was a great mixup between comedy, emotional scenes, action etc. It actually managed to get one tear out of me towards the end. I don't have much else to say about this, that I haven't said on my review for the first part. But I am however going to recommend watching both movies if you like Korean movies or if you're looking for a movie with surprisingly good CGI and decent story.

For some reason, with this one I thought they would go full on serious mode and actually treat it like an Dante's Inferno but they decided to do the same recipe as with the first part which again... good but not great. But yeah, it's another 3.5 rating from me on this part also.

First part was short and crisp but in second part Story introduced different plots and Characters which makes movie little bit Lenghty but the Graphics quality is So good here.

Final Verdict:- Worth Watching.

This movie makes you wonder how the main character here was a side one in the first film. This also beautifully explains the mysteries surrounding him in the first one.

Normally, such follow up movies are terribly poor or boring. However, this one shines with the help of a lot more surprising elements which move the story forward. We cannot help but wonder if this is because of the wonderful narration or the great acting or the subplots.

All the characters are thoroughly fleshed out with a lot of growth. There are some overly melodramatic parts which are off putting and some scenes in the flashback are unbelievable or easy to guess. This is a good story though and never fails to impress you technically as well for this budget. This is better than so many movies with a lot of money thrown at them in a few other countries.

There is nothing to add about the believability as this is all fictional, yet there are some fantasy scenes involving large animals which will leave you with a wide smile. So, go on with your expectations from the first one fresh and enjoy this treat of a movie without blinking much. You could miss an important plot element or more if you do!

Once again, the cast has done a good job again. The story does get an underlying story, it keeps interesting and emotional as well. It also focuses on Guardians' past life. Overall it's agood action packed and fun film.

If you like first part Don't watch it!!! Dont spend your time with this movie

The plots, storylines, casts, graphics are all awesome!

This is really an epic sequel and even better than the first! Initially it was boring and with lots of talkings and stuff but as the show goes on it gets more interesting as the storyline relates how the three guardians were related to each other in their past lives. Stay till the end to find out who the King Yeomra is related to one of the guardians! I would say this is the best Korean movie of the year! A very meaningful and inspiring movie with an epic plot!