Small town movie theater employee here. Wanted to report opening night at our theater went well as soon as the showing was complete. Only had the one showing but it did great. Very full room, very excited crowd of various ages and amounts of dress up as the characters. It was nice after the manager went through such great efforts to get it after I told her about it (even if she didn’t understand any of the hype).
Got to go watch actually and enjoyed it with the crowd. Heard some sniffles, tons of roaring laughs the first few seconds in, and we all collectively felt: emotion. Simple and to the point of what hung the entire time.
Great music, beautiful animation (was combing through while watching as I am an animation major), fun time.
Roaring applause when all was said and done. Everyone sat through the entire credits.
Sony Pictures Animation wasn’t always the every film out of the ballpark, animators dream job company that they are today. Starting with their first animated film Open Season back in 2006, they weren’t exactly the grandest of the crop. They very much barely had their own style to them. Over the years they progressed, working mainly in franchises like The Smurfs, Hotel Transylvania, as well as other films that while weren’t Oscar winners they at least hold a place in someone’s childhood heart. It was when Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse released did they finally see a real spike in their popularity. Drawn into the experimental animation style and impactful visuals, audiences and artists alike are constantly eager to see what the company will produce next that is unique.
That is where I believe K-pop Demon Hunters comes into play. A Netflix original film, this movie about K-pop idols fighting demons in their spare time is more than unique. To analyze what truly has the fan community raving about it I will look at its main areas of strength being Music, Cinematography, work from the Concept Development stage, and of course most importantly, Animation.
With this film, K-pop Demon Hunters has taught us that even when fighting a demon boy band, anything is possible through the magic of songs and carbs.
Music
Let’s be honest. It was a 2 hour music video.
This is not a bad thing, nor should the notion be. Music is a fundamental part to our lives whether we realize it or not. Be it the physical benefits such as learning and development, or the perfect thing to match your mood; music finds a way to have the right beat drop when we need it to.
Like there are many types of people, there are many types of music as well. Korean pop, shortened to K-pop, is a Korean adaptation of the international generalized genre of pop. Kicking off its subculture in the 1990s, K-pop artists developed the energetic choreography and ear worm tune to meet the upbeat persona that would build over the decades. Since then it has become a staple on any teenage girls playlist. K-pop is known for its same gender 3-6 group idols who grace the stage with visual appearances and harmonizing chords.
Most often with musicals song have one goal. This is telling a story through music. However with the likes of K-pop Demon Hunters, I feel we have an interesting route in another direction: using story to explain music. While I am not well versed in the world of K-pop, I do understand the artistry that goes behind their songs and the music videos with them. While musicals use the songs, music videos (especially in the K-pop genre) use a story to explain and elevate their music. Listening to a song is a different experience than watching a story play alongside it.
Why bring these varying points up?Because overall the K-pop Demon Hunters soundtrack takes all of these elements to make an animated musical for K-pop fans and general music lovers alike. Their catered music matches the story enhancing elements of a musical while having diverse songs that could be listened to and enjoyed on repeat without the context of the film being necessary. Members of K-pop idol group TWICE and other creators in the genre had roles in helping bring the soundtrack into a K-pop reminiscent sensation.
Also when you have a boy band that seems like there designs were centered completely around a song like “Soda Pop”and not the other way around, it is clear the creators knew their type of audience.
Cinematography
A main point about film is there are many different visual styles to play with. Experimentation has led to the general audience finding what type of style they like based on the individual product and genre, because with as many developments over the years there is a wide variety to choose from. Our brains can subconsciously pick up on the factors that make each different, be it frame rates to camera angles. It helps us choose our preferences for each medium. The music video medium of film, for example, is known for its dramatization. Shots equal in length to beat percentage of the track, extreme high and low key lighting used to direct eye movement, dramatic angles, and a sprinkling mix of frame rates all play a part in this version of filming experience. This video (If Educational Videos Were Filmed Like Music Videos ) done by Tom Scott breaks down easily what you might find in music video cinematography.
When considering films that showcase bands or other performance groups whose work is often showed through the music video style of shooting, you might notice there are not a lot of times films actually use that style on the big screen. If a band or singer is featured in a movie, most often than not it will show them performing through social media or handheld devices recording, or even the rare actual music video (those typically being short and cheap looking). But as it is a different style of filming, it is not used often in movies as it can be jarring when switching between the two mediums.
K-pop Demon Hunters actually manages to use the style of music video cinematography to the film’s benefit. A good portion is actually dedicated to not only showcasing the characters and their motions the same as how a music video would, but really plays up the uniqueness belong to the K-pop genre’s version. Emphasis on one individual at a time, slow camera motion with low key lighting versus fast movement with high key lighting, motions that hit directly on the beat. It is beautiful and refreshing to see as it is not the norm.
Other points of cinematography work that are worth bringing up to mention are the fight sequences. When a song ends, then the filming style will return to the classic movie style with a subtle enough transition it is not as noticeable. In these sequences we tend to have fight scenes as this is an action related film. Here the camera always stays with whatever is the main object moving; this can be one of the girls, an object they are using to punch a demon, or said demon flying back after being punched. With staying with one object as it follows through its motion, we can pick up on the weight or even weightlessness it is trying to represent and therefore we the audience can feel it when it hits.
Concept/Visual Development
Research is an important aspect of any film, because there are great chances you are basing it on an element of something. Research done and even raking in details to put in the film that goes above and beyond is a good way to get the nerds in the audience drooling at the mouth. The film is a fantastic example of this done right. It is an American film but they go through the work to make the story feel in a pop version of Korean. Looking deeply into both Korean culture and the world of K-pop idols drives the like-ability of what is portrayed on screen. How they incorporated it also is a big decider. In his humor aiming review of the film, The Korean Comic goes on to explain the lack of real world scenarios and likelihoods found in reknown K-pop idols groups. While it is side steeped for both the story and viewer’s comfortability, he point out that the creators tend to redeem themselves with the harsh nature as well as hiding oneself found in the K-pop industry through Rumi and her guardian.
Korean culture is one of the major building blocks of the film as well. Not always with culturally based media do we get all the details or effort incorporated to make us feel we are experiencing the culture shown. This film however managed to put as much effort in the early stages of product to add every little thing to the point when the final film came out we the audience were spoiled. Environment design and props were amongst the few treats we were given. This article over k-culture by Jae-Ha Kim, minorly discusses what Korean mythology was incorporated into the story and look of the film. He goes into the details of the grim reaper designs for the boys and the pride-ful connections of the meaning behind the Saja boys.
Color theory is important anywhere and using the right palette, even more so. Looking at the color scripts alone proves how much consideration was used to make such bright colors that could be overly contrasting in the film work. Details in color in stretching cityscapes to the work of designing each of the girls’ weapons helps give a great indication of the visual mastery the artists behind the film held.
Animation
When a studio produces a “masterpiece” such as the Spider-Man into the spider verse films, fans tend to crave and outright demand that future films have what made it so great. In Sony Pictures Animation’s case it is the use of experimental animation. However this is rarely good. Demanding elements will not always bring the desired outcome, especially if it is pushed to get the next wave of popularity. With the approaching premiere of the 2025 The Smurfs film, my confidence in 2D 3D mix and varying frame rates associated with experimental animation being pushed has only lessened. Nevertheless, with the arrival of this new film, I believe there might be hope for the Spiderverse animation style in the industry yet. Even if it’s still an overused example.
We also see visual and timing elements often contributing to the aesthetic found in most anime media. Hard cuts, scratches marking up the effects, major foreshortening, extreme facial reactions and features, then of course the longer exposures in the animation timeline. Combining this with the seen traits of the Spiderverse animation style bring each animation sequence in this movie full circle.
The animation team also play up their use of heavy and light moments in the timing. Most often, fight scenes and abrupt motion calls for heavy hits. This means less inbetweens and directly putting key frames right in line with the hitting beats to make the effect heavy. Moments calling for a softer approach means more inbetweens, allowing the animation to be more fluid. While it may not land directly on beat, it’s not necessary for it too, as we achieve a floating affect that adds to the light feeling. This is best portrayed in “Free”.
Visual effects lighting only does to add on to the impact frames of animation. Bright lines, contrasting colors, anything to make the exact point of contact pop within the animation.
The animation does well to work in tandem with the other elements mentioned previously that make this film great. Because of this we get a visually and audibly stunning masterpiece by Sony Pictures Animation all of its own.
This film is just are reviewers are saying: It’s beautiful. It’s catchy. It’s unique. Honestly anything that can start a meme trend and have people making TikTok edits till the end of time for it because “the characters were just that hot” probably has something going for it. While I am disappointed it didn’t have a theatrical release, I do believe it was beneficial to have it on a popular streaming service known for good original movies like Netflix. With the current wave of desolate theater spaces, a theatrical release would have probably hindered its immediate impact if it was put out at the same time. The film you can tell was also not the type of creation meant for the big screen and rather had more effort put into the overarching crowd pleaser it was. In the perspective of business it was a rather good choice to work with Netflix.
I also did not need to be yelling at my trainees at the movie theater to quit dancing to TWICE’s version of “Takedown” playing during the credits and get back to sweeping.
Going forward I hope for more out of the blue, one-off showstoppers that make me love the animation industry. My music loving soul was very pleased at the work produced. A film can be marked good if the audience is willing and even craving to go back to look at the hard work that produced a wonderful end result like K-pop Demon Hunters.
I think I might do more of these as stuff releases. If you want to encourage such, hope over to my Ko-fi or Patreon to tip towards a ticket and make a request.
In the comments put your thoughts on the film’s animation.
Click here for my previous analysis over Transformers One.
Which Prime is your favorite for TFO? Even if only design-wise or by headcannons the fandom’s made of ‘em—
Personally I DO like Megatronus, he’s badass and I’ve read a bunch of cool or wholesome headcannons abt him-(and the design is cool as hell, I bought his blokees figure cus of that and it did NOT disappoint)
But other than him I like Onyx too. He looks pretty cool as well AND considering I read somewhere he’s the Prime for Beasts(?) Yeah + some animalistic features- I already labeled him my favorite purely because I love anything inherently mythological-
(Srry for rambling-)
Ooohh tough question. Okay I know it’s an overused and kind of avoiding answer (not that it’s my final answer) but I have different things I love about each Prime, whether they had any decent characterization screen time or not. Can be said for all 13. Actually I was never a fan of any of the 13 Primes other than Optimus in TFP because they felt very strictly set in stone for never appearing really with personalities I never got on to.
But it’s the exact opposite with the TFOne 13 Primes because they do appear but they are left open ended guardians of peace/heroes that it’s fun to both fantasize them and boil them down to daily family life, because that’s what they are. And sure you can throw on TFP established powers/abilities if you want but I choose to mainly hold off because they have the option to be fresh and unrestricted. They also don’t feel like seperated figureheads like other versions, they need each other a group to give good characterization (a reason why Prima is sadly not at the top of my list as no matter how I or anyone else imagines him he really needs another Prime around and bounce off to make any proper version feel right. Funny I saw that as it literally applies to all of them- minus Trion cause he interacts with the cast. But yes Prima really is a team up requiring character. For I can only ever see him as a Miguel and someone needs to be his Tulio)
Now to answer the actual gosh darn question…. I am going to have to say it’s a three way tie with a different reason for each and it’s between Alpha Trion, Zeta, and Megatronus
Alpha Trion=Master Yoda. Childhood memories from age 3 watching Star Wars with my dad come out with wise old decrepit master you adopt as your cool wizard uncle in less than hospitable conditions, gives you power after you find trauma in a cave, sends you on your way to topple a government. Also he has the underlying ability to be a snarky jerk with valid reasoning according to concept storyboards while the group is in prison and I love him for that. Love the character, love the voice, love the snark, love the alt. Chef kiss
Zeta intrigues me. He has the potential to be the rigid leader like many more hard core versions of stone serious Optimus but I don’t get that from him even in the short time he is on screen. He just is. Is a leader, is that symbol, is hero of stories without the trauma or laid out over detailed reasoning for conviction. Could he have some, maybe and probably. But the past is not the focus it’s just who he is and what he represents the moment he shows. Sure I still am not the biggest fan of his chin design like when I first saw the movie but you know his potential and symbolism has won me over time. And a stretch of time that was to look past that chin.
Megatronus is just fun to imagine how he could be. One thing I like about these crossovers I’ve been is playing with how other people characterize him. Even I had a little bit in an episode of “The court paperwork battle of Optimus and Megatron” that people seemed to like because we seem to generally agree on a few things: The sky is blue, grass is green, Megatronus is that calm and collected masked herculean until Megatron shows up and he goes apesh*t. As I have began writing stuff for the Deceiver, I realized there might be a different route I would take with him moving forward. A discussion for a different time. And it’s okay because like I’ve stated before they are all blank slates that we can assign the common hero archetypes to and it will feel right. Generally though I think if we were to step away from the fanon and look purely at physical traits as that is all we canonically have, he fits the muscular heroes of the 70s/80s. You can go without the backstory almost completely because they are that all impressive visage of raw protective hero that with save the day and mow down any enemies with unconventional weapons they found on the way over. The visual characterization of that is what I love most probably and what I miss when watching the overdone klutzes of today. He is my action movie hero.
Anyways feel free to ask questions or compare opinions anytime, I like analysis. Honestly I should be apologizing because you activated my late night daydreaming writer’s brain. Scratches the good lumpy nodes.
(Aka why TFHypeGuy is right and you need to make this a #TFWeekend)
Disclaimer: This is a Review by an animation student based on the first viewing alone. I will not be giving the same quality of analysis of a film like a seasoned animation professional. However, I still have tons of knowledge by the years I have spent personally studying animated films and the new information learned through my academics. If you are still here, with that out of the way let’s begin.
(As requested by @serotoninisheldinkiwis)
((Spoilers below- quick non spoiler version here))
Transformers one is the peak example of what a brand such as the transformers franchise could accomplish when fans and talented artists work together to make a piece of art. The phrase of “could accomplish” is even over written as they “have accomplished” this. Both seasoned and newly furnished transformers fans seem to concur this as a fact.
All animation fans (you could even get the same from any of my fellow animation classmates) agree the Spider-Man Into/Across the Spider-verse movies are the best amongst the vast pool of the animated film medium. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (2022) was my favorite animated film, for both story and animation. But when compared to the artistry that is the Spider-verse, I knew that it still couldn’t compare in terms of mastery. No matter how much a film has your love, you are more likely than not to agree with the concept that Spider-verse saga is the best. And I used to agree. That was until the night of Friday September 20, when Transformers One single handily took the scepter of victory and waved it high for the awaiting crowds to see. The controversy I may get from this will probably be immense, but the statement I am willing to scream from the rooftops is that Transformers One has officially surpassed Spider-Verse movies as the top animated film.
But what actually makes an animated film the “best” when compared to the variety of competitors flooding the market on a bi-monthly basis? What makes this film so better when it could be just the current hyper fixation coded bias of a long time transformers kid who just got handed a shiny new toy to play with and will eventually forget about once the next film releases. Well my friends…and random people of the internet, here is an analysis made by an animation student (me *cough *cough) that breaks down the answer to that question.
Animation
As with any quality animated film, the animation itself will make or break a film as it is the core part of the film. Transformers One’s animation was handled by the company Industrial Lights and Magic. While not a large competitor in terms of feature film animation, they have produced films that have pushed past known boundaries of both animation and story as seen in their few animated feature films: Rango (2011), Strange Magic (2015), and Ultraman Rising (2024). Their work in the industry is primarily known in reference to their special effects work with Jurassic Park (1993) and Star Wars (1977). ILM’s animation in Transformers One manages to bring to life a world many have tried to do before, but not as elegantly or dare I say brilliant as this. The animation itself seems to stay on a constant frame rate, the beauty of special movements or actions being more defined by hard cuts or continuously moving shots. Each movement has purpose even ones that seem more throw away because it adds to the personality of the characters/environment. Specialty/new techniques are not as important for this film, which is perfectly okay considering they managed to hit each one of the 12 principles of animation when it counted most. An animation coming from a special effects studio in general is very good because they tend to pay major attention to any animation related to special effects, even if it’s just for a cartoon. Details can range from giant Quintesson ship slowly descending to the tiny sparks cause from a hit to a metal face. The animation in general is smooth as well as robotic only when it needs to be.
Environments
There have been a variety of environments in both animated and live action films that have help suck the audience into the story. When an animated pulls it off successfully it is even more noteworthy worthy. However, one must note the limited use of environments when it comes to how much we see past the establishing shots. Most times the best of environmental shots are primarily used to help set up a location or scene, then the rest of that is limited to a small corner (more often than not for budgetary reasons). Transformers One leans into the almost constant use of environments, not only for location, but for story as well. There is a variety of scenes that are carried through meticulously crafted sets and allow for you to not only finally get to know the world of Cybertron, but we travel through the environments almost fully as we progress the story alongside the characters. Minor details play a large role in the environment. Between the polished textures, the detailed individual blades of alien vegetation, the different background characters, and the hidden easter eggs within the framework of the designs themselves allow for a new thing for you eyes to feast upon with each viewing.
Textures
The use of textures in both environment and character design is on another level when compared to other 3D animated films. Speaking from experience the process of applying basic textures to a 3D model already requires hours of hard work, dedication, and patience that you will be very low on by the end of the whole ordeal. So when you analyze the detail and complexity of the work the team at ILM brought to the table it is truly extraordinary, even more so when you realize the time it would take to fight the UV layout and unwrap the mesh of a complicated figure like a cybertronian, especially one that has to transform. If you are confused on my alien language look up basic uv layout and texturing tutorial for maya on YouTube and generate a heart attack for yourself. Good luck sleeping tonight. Transformers one works itself down to the individual grains in the sand, the cracks in the ground, the glitter speckled plating on Elita-One’s head; even the length and deepness of scratches in armor can be measured. The effort put forth creates an effect of feeling you can touch the textures just by looking at them. Of course textures can only go so far without the correct use of the next subject.
Lighting
When used to its fullest extent lighting not only lights the cast and their environment but it helps extend storytelling capabilities. Things such as mood, emotions, atmosphere, movement and location are brought out through simple artificial particles. The darkness of the mines contrast with the bright fantasy lighting of Iacon, which in its own way contrast the calm natural lighting of the surface. The carefully crafted textures of a surface could not be fully realized without the full use of directed light bouncing off it. During the final sequence of fights the change of D-16 to Megatron is not only conveyed through the change in the lighted color of his eyes but the waves of light flowing from them as he battles his way through opponents. The trail of light allows our eyes to not only follow Megaton’s movements but his descent into his dark path, with his blood red rage clouding his vision and being all that he can see.
And finally the most important point to cover with any animated film besides animation:
Story
Recently Dreamworks employee Rick Rickdel gave a lecture on my campus. Out of all he talked about one of my major takeaways was when he said: “a story only connects with the felt needs of your audience”. Transformers fans have been wanting a movie like Transformers One for a long time. Even the smallest fans wanted to know what happens between Optimus and Megatron. And that’s the true beauty of this movie. We already know basically what happened between them, we know the overall story. Going into the theater we already knew how it was going to officially end and based on the lore we knew how it was going to start even. So the most important thing for Transformers One was how they connected the two and carried out the main part of the story. And what they did not only managed to meet expectations, but surprised us multiple points along the way. Voice actors poured their souls into these characters, leaving behind their celebrity personalities and bringing the characters to life. Each character themselves that had a relatively good chunk of screen time had a role in the story and were not just throw away side characters. With each one it’s set up for an almost domino like effect for the plot. Bee is not just a goofy side character, he assists in the journey, helps them get to new locations, and even provides relief from the typical dark undertones. Darkwing is a side character that ends through one quick mean spirited action kicks off the rising action at break neck speed. The quintessions show briefly, but provide enough of a threat without overstepping the plot’s boundaries that it is okay they are not there for long, but there may be a chance they can come again. Sentinel is at first glance a stereotypical egocentric villain, but take away his power and status and he will crumble in your hands (quite literally). He is not designed to be redeemable, but he is also not evil just for the sake of being evil. He has goals, he has factors that push him to evil things, but he very clearly has gone far enough that he no longer cares. His overall actions that are not super specifically targeted end up affecting what were originally minor threats to the point it results in his demise. And because of how his character was designed we rejoice even if actual justice wasn’t delivered. For a film have good storytelling it needs to have two factors: the story (the lore and information the audience receives in order to understand the film’s world) and plot (the events that play out in the films timeframe). The movie uses both of these to their proper extent allowing people like my friend was never watched any Transformers media before to watch it with understanding and enjoy it. It plays out what we expect of transformers media while taking on its own persona. What I find most enjoyable about the movies plot is the fact it is similar to a slow burn romance, but in reverse. We take this strongly built brotherly bond that can be shaken, yet once the match gets struck we can do nothing but watch as all these ties melt to heartache before our very eyes. And the audience’s vision eats it up without blinking once. We watch as D-16 goes to catch Orion, only to slowly realize he can’t undo what he’s done to the point of of diluting his mind to making it Orion’s’ on fault. We watch orions spark break through the emotions in his eyes as he begs D-16 not to…but it’s not about not dropping him, it’s about not becoming what he has watched him slowly come into to the point a flip is switch and D-16 is gone. @sephirose explained the summary of this movie best:
“D-16 reached out and caught Orion.
Megatron dropped him.
Orion Pax held onto D-16.
Optimus Prime let him go.”
Even the soundtrack tells a story. “The Fall” it only plays an emotional heartstrings of former Transformers Prime fans, but encapsulates “the actual physical fall of Orion and the metaphorical one of D-16 as he kills Sentinel” (@firebunnylover). Even if the end of the film is just a quick hit of Megatron being banished and forming the Deceptioncons while Orion ascends and becomes robot Jesus, it is what we were expecting.
And that is the culmination of these factors. It manages to astound and amaze, but in the end it was a Transformers movie meant to be satisfactory. It is satisfying to the transformers soul, and in turn we should do our part like TFOneGuy says and give it the appreciation it deserves.
Anyways, sorry this took so long (I say to the single person who asked for this) to get out but in order to be able to give an in-depth animation student analysis I have to do well in my animation classes.
