Ghost: In Your Arms Again Review

Ghost: In Your Arms Again

Japanese Title: Gōsuto Mouichido Dakishimetai

Alternative Title: Ghost in Love

Year: 2010

Language: Japanese

Genre: Romance, Drama

Synopsis:

CEO Nanami Hoshino (Nanako Matsushima) falls in love with Korean potter Jun-Ho Kim (Song Seung Heon) and marries him. Not long after, Nanami is killed in an accident. Seeing her devastated husband, Nanami decides to stay on earth as a ghost. As she watches over her grieving husband, she starts to realize that her death is caused by a planned murder and Jun-Ho’s life may be endangered. She goes to a fake medium named Unten Sazuki (Kirin Kiri), the only person who can hear her, and asks for help.

Cheerfulnuts’ Review:

When I first saw the cast in the Japanese remake of Ghost, I was excited. Two well-known actors in one movie. One is my favourite Japanese actress since childhood; another is a charming face in Korean dramaland. I have to admit that at first, their team-up felt a bit weird. If you’ve seen a lot of Nanako’s previous works, you may not appreciate her having a “pretty” leading man. Nanako looks more mature than Seong Heon, but she still is the elegant and beautiful actress that I grew to love. They may not be the perfect match, but they’re just okay.

The plot is pretty much the same. I’ve seen the original Hollywood movie several times, but I still get excited and wondered how the remake would show certain scenes or how it would be different from the original. It’s interesting that the ghost is the wife instead of the husband. Without seeing the trailer beforehand, I was surprised with the twist. Though the story is very familiar, the change is quite refreshing. That said, I still prefer the ghost to be a man. I just find it more romantic for a male ghost to watch over his wife rather than the other way around.

The Hollywood film focuses more on Sam Wheat’s (Patrick Swayze) being a ghost and how he befriends Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg). I like to see their friendship grow as the movie progresses. Unfortunately, in the remake, less focus is given to Oda’s counterpart Unten. Unten lacks Oda’s charisma. She is annoying, unlikable, and kind of creepy. Honestly, I think it’s hard to compare with Whoopi’s Oda. Oda is one character that is hard to forget. Unten may be charming to other viewers, but not to me.

Aside from making the ghost a woman, the Japanese version tries to be different by showing more of Jun-Ho and Nanami’s love story. Probably one-third of the movie shows how the couple met, how they fell in love, and how they got married. Despite the movie’s effort, it’s still hard for me to understand their love for each other. They made pots together and the next day, Jun-Ho tells Nanami he loves her. Everything is so fast. After Nanami’s death, it’s sad to see Jun-Ho’s devastation. But his pain is just unrealistic. How can he feel tremendous pain when he hardly knows his wife? They’ve been together for only months and it seems like Jun-Ho couldn’t live without her. It’s just not convincing. Perhaps the movie failed to fully show how their love developed due to lack of screen time. They could shorten the first part and just show a few flashbacks of their happy times when needed.

One last gripe, I wish the movie had paid more attention to details. I find it silly when the murderer chases Seong Heon and attempts to stab him in front of several witnesses. They should make it a dark alley or an empty warehouse to make it more believable instead of a crowded place.

My conclusion is, the remake is not as good as the original but it’s still watchable. Despite Seong Heon’s reputation as a mere pretty boy with no acting skills, the movie still managed to make me teary-eyed.  His portrayal of Jun-Ho works for me. I missed Nanako and I’m glad to see her here. Die-hard fans of the Hollywood Ghost may hate this film, so if you’re one of them, you may skip this movie. On the other hand, if you enjoy watching good-looking couples (as much as I do) regardless of the story, or if you didn’t like the Hollywood version, you may try watching this version.

Cheerfulnuts’ Verdict:

6 out of 10 stars.