{"id":1972254,"date":"2025-08-21T12:13:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1972254"},"modified":"2025-08-21T12:13:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T12:13:35","slug":"kpop-demon-hunters-is-a-massive-hit-but-is-it-a-good-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/kpop-demon-hunters-is-a-massive-hit-but-is-it-a-good-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;KPop Demon Hunters&#8217; is a massive hit. But is it a good movie?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A few years ago, for reasons that escape me \u2015 maybe a lot of people in the newsroom were out sick or on vacation or something \u2015 I was asked to write a story about then-K-pop sensation BTS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As a journalist, you are often called upon to be an instant expert on any number of topics. It\u2019s without question one of the coolest parts of the job. It can also be one of the most frustrating. (I\u2019m using the word \u201cexpert\u201d loosely.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">My one-story stint as a K-pop expert <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/entertainment\/media\/2019\/06\/07\/phoenix-bts-fans-beg-k-pop-band-for-arizona-tour-stop\/1383697001\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:went about as you\u2019d expect;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">went about as you\u2019d expect<\/a>. Let\u2019s just say I was never asked to write another. And while I have unusually varied interests in musical genres, I fully acknowledge that K-pop is, despite my toe-dipping with that single story, not something I listen to very often.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">By which I mean ever.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Which is fine. I\u2019m not a music critic. I\u2019m a media columnist, which is how \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d first caught my attention. Mine and everyone else\u2019s. It debuted on Netflix on June 20 and is now the second-most-watched Netflix original film of all time, with three of its songs currently in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/hot-100\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the Billboard Top 10;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">the Billboard Top 10<\/a>. Its success came out of nowhere, which is the most satisfying kind of success.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>&#8220;KPop Demon Hunters&#8221; premiered on Netflix on June 20, 2025.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Is &#8216;KPop Demon Hunters&#8217; any good?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">All well and good. But I review movies for their quality, not their popularity. While I watched the global phenomenon that is \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d gather momentum for the last couple of months, it was mostly with bemused curiosity. The only question that really matters to me is a simple one: Is the movie any good?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In this case, it really is.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I <em>know<\/em>. I was surprised, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">I love the genre-hopping: animated horror musical romantic comedy. And it&#8217;s suitable for the family.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">What is &#8216;KPop Demon Hunters&#8217; about?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It tells the story of Huntr\/x, a K-pop girl group whose members secretly double as their generation\u2019s demon hunters. Its members \u2015 Mira (May Hong), Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) and Rumi (Arden Cho) \u2015 work to keep demons in the Golden Honmoon, a realm that keeps the demons at bay. Their fans\u2019 adoration fuels their supernatural fighting abilities. Good thing. Without demon hunters, the demons would steal everyone\u2019s souls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop), a put-upon demon serving the demon king, Gwi-Ma (Byung Hun Lee), has an idea to swipe the fans\u2019 souls, which is expressed in the most delightful three-word phrase I&#8217;ve heard in a movie all year: demon boy band.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Aren\u2019t they all?<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The boy band, the Saja Boys, becomes an immediate hit, which endangers both the popularity of Huntr\/x <em>and <\/em>the souls of their fans. What follows is a fight for popularity, along with a tale of inclusion, becoming comfortable in your own skin, being honest with the people you care about, a little romance, some cute supernatural creatures and a televised battle of the bands and a lot of songs, all of it steeped in Korean lore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Not everything will make perfect sense. I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s supposed to. It isn\u2019t the kind of movie where you nitpick the details. It\u2019s the kind of movie where you float along from one scene to the next, buoyed by catchy hits like \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/1CPZ5BxNNd0n0nF4Orb9JS?si=0e99d94a1b1945ed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Golden;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Golden<\/a>\u201d and \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/02sy7FAs8dkDNYsHp4Ul3f?si=3c0a6ee037d14b78\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Soda Pop;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Soda Pop<\/a>.\u201d They don\u2019t just serve the story, but drive it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">All of which explains why it\u2019s an entertaining movie, one you can watch with your family. (The scary bits aren\u2019t too intense, although there is some soul-sucking going on.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But why is it a worldwide phenomenon?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">What makes &#8216;KPop Demon Hunters&#8217; so insanely popular?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">You can guess at some reasons. At a time when countries and people seem determined to wall themselves off, to make room only for themselves and those like them, it is a refreshing change to see something different, to expose yourself to something unfamiliar. Like \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/articles\/sinners-bold-freedom-music-vampires-161827334.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Sinners;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">Sinners<\/a>,\u201d it\u2019s not based on an existing franchise, although K-pop is of course massively popular.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But historically popular like this film? If I really knew the answer to why \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d is such a massive success, still going strong two months after its release, still making headlines, still spinning off Top 10 hits, I would be typing this on my private jet on my way to Nantucket to chill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For the record, I am typing it in my Chandler, Arizona home, where it is expected to be 111 degrees today.\u00a0So no, I don\u2019t have a great answer. I hope it\u2019s all about inclusion and a good time at the movies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Beyond that, I don\u2019t really care. Sometimes you capture lightning in a bottle. This is clearly one of those times. And I\u2019m glad it happened to something as entertaining as \u201cKPop Demon Hunters.\u201d We could all use a little more fun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><span class=\"exclude-from-newsgate\"><strong>Facebook AI slop is dangerous: <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/facebook-ai-slop-dangerous-symptom-120141058.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:It's a symptom of Trump's war on truth;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">It&#8217;s a symptom of Trump&#8217;s war on truth<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">&#8216;KPop Demon Hunters&#8217; in-theater singalong event<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In theaters Saturday, Aug. 23 and Sunday, Aug. 24. Check local listings for showtimes.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">&#8216;Kpop Demon Hunters&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Great \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 Good \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Fair \u2605\u2605\u2605 Bad \u2605\u2605\u00a0Bomb\u00a0\u2605<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Directors:<\/strong> Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Cast:<\/strong> Arden Cho, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Rating: <\/strong>PG for action\/violence, scary images, thematic elements, some suggestive material and brief language.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>How to watch: <\/strong>Stream on Netflix.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Reach Goodykoontz at\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/movies\/articles\/mailto:bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com\" data-ylk=\"slk:bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com<\/a>. Facebook:<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GoodyOnFilm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:facebook.com\/GoodyOnFilm;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">facebook.com\/GoodyOnFilm<\/a>. Media commentary with a side of snark? Sign up for\u00a0The Watchlist newsletter\u00a0with Bill Goodykoontz.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/billgoodykoontz\/2025\/08\/21\/kpop-demon-hunters\/85723376007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:'KPop Demon Hunters' is a global phenomenon. Should it be?;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">&#8216;KPop Demon Hunters&#8217; is a global phenomenon. Should it be?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago, for reasons that escape me \u2015 maybe a lot of people in the newsroom were out sick or on vacation or something \u2015 I was asked to write a story about then-K-pop sensation BTS. As a journalist, you are often called upon to be an instant expert on any number of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1972255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[339263,23191],"class_list":["post-1972254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-kpop-demon-hunters","tag-netflix"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/KPop-Demon-Hunters-is-a-massive-hit-But-is-it.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1972254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1972254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1972254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1972255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1972254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1972254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1972254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}