Tidal Wave

Following a prologue dramatizing the death of a sailor in a storm, this low-budget natural-disaster movie from Korea introduces a bunch of characters who live in the coastal community of Pusan, including a guilt-wracked survivor (Kyung-gu Sol) of the initial squall and his girlfriend (Ji-won Ha), along with some well-to-do society types, and various goofy dock workers and fishermen. Of course, we also have the obligatory scientist (Joong-hoon Park) who keeps futilely warning officials that earthquakes in the vicinity could cause a devastating tsunami. All are thinly drawn and played in broad and often comical strokes, especially the geologist (who is estranged from his ex-wife and struggles to make a connection with his young daughter). But all of this is just an appetizer for the titular main course, which doesn't arrive until more than an hour into the film and lasts about a half-hour, as great waves engulf the city and carry off victims—scenes punctuated by hair's-breadth escapes and acts of heroic self-sacrifice. As a cheesy bit of cataclysmic hokum with decent special effects, writer-director Je-gyun Yun's Tidal Wave isn't without a certain naive charm, but in the end its even more forgettable than similar recent fare such as 2012. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)