Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I'm leaving this review to hopefully attract even the smallest bit of attention to this incredible film, that is sadly so hidden to mainstream and fringe film audiences alike. I believe Bong Joon Ho is one of the greatest modern filmmakers, who has gained a strong following due to films such as Memories of Murder (2003): a bleak and haunting serial-killer masterwork, The Host (2006): a comic and gripping creature feature, Mother (2009): an unexpected and layered murder mystery, and Snowpiercer (2013): a breathtaking Orwellian Sci-Fi tour de force based on a French graphic novel. If you are new to the world of Bong Joon Ho, I highly recommend all of these works. However his debut film, Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), is a much lesser-known work of his, but despite its lower budget and smaller scale, I believe it to be one of his finest creations.Danny Boyle once said: "I think your first film is always your best film. Always. It may not be your most successful or your technically most accomplished, whatever. It is your best film in a way because you never, ever get close to that feeling of not knowing what you're doing again. And that feeling of not knowing what you're doing is an amazing place to be. If you can cope with it and not panic, it's amazing. It's guesswork, inventiveness and freshness that you never get again." I feel that this quote summarizes why Barking Dogs Never Bite is such an amazing film. It was Bong's passion project, and even though he lacked the experience and guidance that makes his later works so great, he had a nervous and adventurous tenacity that couldn't be replicated in the future. I definitely believe this to be Bong Joon Ho's most personal film, and one that analyzes the interactions between characters. I won't waste time discussing specific plot points or characters/character actions; that's the film's job. What I do want to share are the subtle themes included throughout the film that have resonated with me.Probably the most prevalent theme throughout the film is chasing one's dreams...or at least what one believes to be one's dreams. Yun-ju ultimately wishes to gain employment as a college professor, and is determined to do whatever is necessary to achieve this goal. But is this surely what he wants, or is it just what he thinks he wants? How do we even know what we want in life is what we truly want? It's not like we have achieved that goal to know if it is actually what we were expecting it to be. It is common to have a goal in life in which, once achieved, doesn't bring as much satisfaction as it was originally speculated to bring. Or it even may end up being something that you didn't want at all. The opening wilderness and closing curtain shots of this film, in relation to how they tie into the theme of achieving falsely desired goals is flawless filmmaking. Hyeon-nam has a similar experience with achieving desired goals. This film has several set pieces that play off of one another like a domino effect, which usually peaks my interest when accomplished properly (as it was here). There are also one or two segments of the film that have very little to no relation to the overarching story, but were executed incredibly. Specifically, one scene where the janitor tells a story about the building's boiler room, which introduces such a sudden change of tone, but is handled so skillfully. I really appreciate when directors are able to break the conventions of filmmaking like so, while still making it work to their benefit. This movie is also absolutely hilarious (probably Bong's most comedic), but the humor is very dark. That being said, there are so many witty, honest, humane, and even sadistic moments that made me laugh and smirk.There are a few warnings that I would like to share. First off, there are a few scenes that depict animal cruelty and canine consumption (I'm a dog lover, so don't think that just because you love dogs you won't be able to watch this movie). However, literally the first thing you see when watching this film is text that states "No animals were harmed in making this film." You have to remember that at the end of the day, you're watching a movie, and the events depicted on screen are not real. On the other hand, Bong Joon Ho is also portraying how animals (specifically dogs) are viewed and treated in South Korea. The consumption of dog is not too uncommon, and that's a cold hard fact that you'll have to stomach (pun intended), not only while watching this film, but throughout life in general. In short, Bong Joon Ho depicts lifestyles that actually exist, despite seeming uncommon and harsh to other cultures. Secondly, I acknowledge that this film might not be for everyone. This is a small scale and personal dark comedy about human interactions. The pacing is slow, there is no action, and I wouldn't use "pure entertainment" as a term to define this film. But if you have patience and are able to give Bong Joon Ho a chance to guide you through his quirky little story, I believe this film can provide unique gratification. It may be hard to get your hands on a copy, but I highly suggest going through the effort to do so. This is a true gift to cinema, even though it's hidden so far beneath all the others that only very few have uncovered it.If you enjoyed this film and want to see which others I recommend, or you'd like to see my taste of films to decide if this film would be worth watching for you, feel free to check out this list: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls052767730/

All of Bong Joon-Ho's films are black comedies to some degree, but this (his first) leans the most towards comedy. It actually reminded me a bit of a lighter Ming-liang Tsai with its commentary of the corruption and decay of urban life. It's always a pleasure to see Bae Doo-na (of LINDA LINDA LINDA) and the film has some charming and quirky touches. I have a really hard time with animal cruelty, however, especially when used for humor. This and a few other mean-spirited elements were an obstacle for me. I suppose it's to Bong's credit that I ended up liking it anyway, but I can't say I loved it and I wouldn't watch it again. Worthwhile for Bae and some of the offbeat filmmaking flourishes, though.

It takes a very careful but wildly imaginative mind to come up and film Barking Dogs Never Bite. It's a mind that knows that a story isn't important here, and shouldn't be, which is a risk for any filmmaker, much less a first-timer like Bong Joon-Ho was. It's loosely structured around two people, Yun-ju and Hyeon-nam, who live in an apartment complex and each deal with the rule of 'no dogs' in their own way. As do other tenants, like the boiler-room janitor, who finds the stray (or near-dead) dogs and makes them as part of soup. And, basically, Joon-Ho follows these two main souls, one a flaky accountant who loves to be outside, and another an aspiring professor who can't stand the sound of dogs barking and decides to do 'something' about it, and fashions a very entertaining character study.Moreover than being really great about its characters, of whom the filmmaker has the utmost concern and warmth over (much like in his film the Host, where the hilarity that comes from them and around them would appear to be quite genuine), it's just brilliant visual storytelling. I loved seeing how he framed his character hiding in a closet in the boiler room as the janitor comes in and tells his buddy the story of the dead man buried behind two layers of concrete. I loved seeing that chase scene where our main heroine chases after the hero (or is it anti-hero) after he does something rather alarming with a small dog. And I just loved the mood of the piece, how he rolls in jazz music (Cowboy Bebop fan one might think or hope), and how on a dime an amusing moment could turn really serious, and then back to amusing again, sometimes in the same scene - the lonely old lady with the little dog and loads of untended radishes shows that quite clearly.A lot of this could be too quirky and unlikely in other hands, and certainly it couldn't be quite done like this in America (many in the audience gasped at some of the perilous moments with the dogs - most comparable, though still lighter, than Amores Perros). But the filmmaker, already running out of the gate on his first try, sticks with the darker modes of his tale and makes us care about these people, even when they're imperfect or just plain stupid or cruel, and their own ways of redemption or feeling important to themselves is what counts. It's a comic powerhouse and a serious debut, light and dark, full of vigor and little moments that are quiet enough for us to see these people, like the pre-professor and his pregnant wife with a few sad truths hidden beneath her, and that girl's unyielding heart. It's like the ideal date-movie introduction to Asian cinema for Wes Anderson fans.

It's possible that this dark comedy will slip from my memory before too long, but as I write this just having viewed the film (on home video), I have to say it made for an excellent viewing experience. It's rare to see a comedy in this day and age with such an offbeat sense of humor, let alone one that keeps viewers guessing so much as to where the plot will head next. There's also a lot of care put into the cinematography and editing of this film, adding some extra layers of satisfaction from a cinephilic perspective; this is one comedy that doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence, and need never be regarded as a guilty pleasure. Specifically, the way this issue pinpoints its moment in time regarding Korean culture's evolving relationship with dogs is constantly mined for humor, but also provides moments of real insight and touching emotion.I watched this film on the strength of director Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder, an excellent thriller with a deep mordant streak. If this previous film had to be nailed down to a genre, I'd call it a dark comedy -- albeit an extremely idiosyncratic one -- but there are effective splashes of the thriller and horror genres throughout, not to mention some nicely done surrealistic touches. All in all, these two films make me sorely regret missing Bong Joon-ho's "Host" at this year's Toronto film fest; I've added his name to my short list of Korean directors (the others being Park Chan-wook, Hong Sang-soo, and Kim Ki-duk) to follow closely.