KPop Demon Hunters

Grade: A+

In KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix, the popular Korean pop group Huntrix are also demon hunters. In order to stop them, the demons send their own boy band Souji Boys to steal their fans' positivity and their power. 

The trailers made this look fun, but they did not prepare me for how good this was. KPDH is an energetic, fun affair featuring entertaining or amusing, quirky characters. Visual gags and silliness fly fast, and one immediately likes the main trio (the traditional trio of the quirky one, the tough one, and the leader). Also, every SINGLE character in this works, even silly bit players. (Adding to the Korean authenticity of this, the majority of the cast are Korean actors, many of which are making their English language film debut.)

But there is a surprising vein of seriousness under the bubblegum pop veneer of the movie. Though it's never shown on screen, the demons do kill people and present actual stakes. The message to this movie is a lot stronger than you'd expect (I know I'm being vague, but it's best you walk into this part blind.) There is actually  a lot of depth and backstory to Souji Boys' leader Jinu (voiced by Ahn Hyeo-seop, who's been in a lot of Korean shows including Happy Home and Father is Strange).

If I have any nitpicks about this, I honestly don't know how I feel about the design or voice decisions for the head demon Gwi-Ma (Squid Game's Lee Byung-hun). The look is interesting, but I don't know if it's threatening enough. I also really don't know how I feel about his voice. He's more understated and casual than the usual head monster, which makes for an interesting delivery, but he can also feel low energy.

Animation looks great. KPDH is really colorful with a lot of solid, expressive character designs. The music numbers are really dynamic, well choreographed and look great. 

Speaking of the music numbers, this movie also has an excellent song selection (only one didn't feel as strong as the others and that one was still perfectly fine). I'm not well versed in the K-Pop scene, but I had no problem enjoying any of these tunes.

Highly recommended. This is one of those movies where practically everything works and a good story and time is had.