Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Action movie has frenzied violence, confusing story.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Carter
What's the Story?
In CARTER, Carter (Joo Won) wakes up with no memory, a bald spot shaved in the back of his head, and an earpiece in his ear with a woman's voice telling him to fight and run if he wants to live. He follows the woman's voice, fending off CIA agents and Korean bathhouse patrons by the dozens. Korea is in the midst of a DMZ virus that has mostly been eradicated in South Korea, but North Korea still struggles with it. Carter tries to figure out which side he's supposed to be on and who his allies are. He finds the daughter of a scientist and must track down the scientist who discovered the vaccine for the virus, and he must also get his memory back and find his wife.
Is It Any Good?
More style than substance, and more like a video game than a coherent story, Carter is basically a long frenzy of fighting with all kinds of weapons and extended vehicle chases. It tries to be shot in "real time" and all in one take, which just adds to the confusion. It doesn't make much sense, but if you want to see exploding molars and digital pigs, this movie has both of those.
The "story," such as it is, involves a zombie virus that emerged from the Korean Demilitarized Zone. At various points, the CIA, South Koreans, and North Koreans are all trying to capture the hero, who has no memory of who he is or what's going on, with nothing but an ear piece in his ear with a woman's voice telling him where to go if he wants to live and the body memory required to commit mass slaughter with knives, hatchets, guns, etc. The story is almost irrelevant, a break between fight scenes. It isn't so much exciting as it is headache-inducing, and by the time we learn what's really going on, the movie has gone on for way too long and the viewer is too exhausted to care.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about action movie violence like what's seen in Carter. Did it seem ridiculously over the top, or is it something that keeps the movie entertaining and action-packed? Why?
Did you find the movie easy to follow? Why, or why not?
How is this similar to and different from other action movies in terms of fight scenes, vehicle chases, storyline, etc.?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : August 5, 2022
- Cast : Joo Won , Kim Bo-Min , Sung-Jae Lee
- Director : Byung-gil Jung
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Run time : 132 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : August 13, 2022
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