Romantic Island Korean Movie - setting philippines

Having watched a lot of heavy films lately, I did have a craving for something lightweight and fun. The South Korean movie “Romantic Island” fortunately hit the spot just right. The film features three couples that go the Philippines for fun and there are a few surprises thrown in along the way. “Romantic Island” does have the look of a television drama and at times goes down the melo-drama road familiar with TV dramas, but fortunately those melo-dramatic moments makes up only a tiny portion of the film. If you don’t have time to get away, watching “Romantic Island” will at least give you a temporal feeling of excitement.

In “Romantic Island” three couples pair off after arriving in Manila, Philippines.

The first couple are a middle-aged husband & wife tandem that are taking their first ever trip overseas. The husband (played by Mun-shik Lee) has never taken his wife anywhere before, but he has reasons for taking her on their first trip. The husband has a brain tumor and he plans to end his life in the Philippines for insurance money.

Convenience store clerk Jung-hwan (Min-gi Lee) is offered a free ticket to the Philippines by a friend. Although Jung-hwan is broke he is more than happy to go, especially to forget his ex-girlfriend who dumped him because of his inability to find a better paying job. At the Manila airport, Jung-hwan is stunned when famous Korean pop singer Ga-young Yu (played by Eugene) approaches him to use his cellphone. For Ga-young, coming to the Philippines is a spur of the moment decision to get away from the pressures of making her next album.

Soo-Jin used her entire savings to come to the Philippines Her home life is a mess and she is in part running away from her family. At her hotel in Manila, she encounters a fellow Korean named Jae-Hyuk (Seon-gyun Lee). Jae-hyuk is a successful businessman that came to the Philippines for family matters. His long estranged father, who re-married in Manila, has passed away. Soo-jin accompanies Jae-hyuk to meet his step-sister.

So what’s to like about “Romantic Island” you ask? Well that exuberant feeling of taking your first overseas trip is palatable throughout the film. The movie also does a good job of bringing out the flavor of the Philippines island. The characters are all likable, especially the younger couples. Someone that stood-out was Su-kyeong Lee who played Soo-jin aka Alice. Although I have never noticed her before (she played the sister in serial killer film “Rainbow Eyes), I will make a note of her as she brought out a whole lot of perky charm to the screen. There’s also model turned actor Min-gi Lee (”A Good Day to Have an Affair”) turning in another on the money performance as the star struck love interest of Eugene.

A few scenes towards the end of the film (involving each couple’s deepest problems) does drag the film down a notch. As stated earlier, those scenes are brief and doesn’t place a complete damper on the film itself. There’s also a surprisingly affective sub-plot involving kids hired to murder one of the Korean vacationers.

“Romantic Island” will most likely appeal to teens and fans of Korean romantic-comedies in general. The multiple storylines will make you think of past Korean films like “My Lovely Week” and “Sad Movie,” with “Romantic Island” landing in-between the superior “My Lovely Week” and the disappointing “Sad Movie.” If anything else, “Romantic Island” provides 90 minutes of lively escapism … something to savor when your longing to pack your suitcase but don’t have an itinerary.