2025
MA15+
Fantasy-Action
Kim Dok-ja, an ordinary man in his 20s, is the only reader of an obscure web novel titled Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse. Having started reading in his school days, after 10 years of serialization the novel’s conclusion is finally published, and Kim, not liking the ending, writes an angry letter to the author, calling it 'the worst novel'. After sending the letter, the apocalyptic world of the novel suddenly becomes reality, and the novel’s omnipotent hero Yu Jung-hyeok appears before Kim. As the only person who knows how to survive in this world, Kim and his companions rescue Yu Jung-hyeok and strive to save the world by writing his own new ending.
My background to seeing this movie is that I recently read (and loved) the first volume of the English translation of the webnovel, which I received as an eBook review copy from the publisher (it releases in September). I was excited when I saw a film was coming, but I read a lot of negative comments about the adaptation before going in, so I tried not to have too high expectations. I can see what fans of the book are concerned about. Even just from the one volume I have read so far, it is clear material has been cut, and with those cuts you lost a lot of character development, world building and humour. Some of the casting, too, did not 100% fit the character descriptions. Was this a faithful adaptation that will set die-hard fans at ease? No, clearly not. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't an enjoyable movie if you just sat back and watched without comparing it to the books. The storyline was still fun and the movie hurtled along at a good pace with plenty of battles. The CGI perhaps wasn't always the best, but it wasn't bad (I had expected worse from some comments I had read), and I was entertained throughout. My husband watched the movie with me. He has no knowledge of the webnovel and he came out of the cinema saying how much he enjoyed it. Therefore, I think the crux of my review is that while fans of the original material may well be disgruntled, those new to the story, or willing to let go of their expectations of a 100%-accurate rendering of the story onscreen, can still find this a pleasing fantasy-action romp. I am giving it 4 stars.
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