Yes, I am a fan of the recent hit movie KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix's most-watched movie of all time). Partly because it encompasses multiple elements that I support, including Asian representation, musical magic (or is it magical music?), and the fact that it is a new, original work of IP (intellectual property).
But also because I am 15 years old at heart.
(Note: the folks at Save the Cat beat me to this by one week. Check out their analysis here.)
As I've mentioned in this previous post, I mainly used the books Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell and Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder (highly recommended for aspiring authors and screenwriters) as my story structure reference guides for the Joel Suzuki series. So, applying their formulae to KPop Demon Hunters, this is what I came up with, after the jump (warning: spoilers):
ACT I
Opening Image/Theme Stated/Set-Up (minutes 1-8): The movie doesn't really seem to state a theme, but it does the setup at around 3 minutes, with the whole "Honmoon" thing (it's a barrier that protects the world from demons). And then in the airplane scene, it establishes who the main characters are: three famous pop stars in a band called Huntr/x who care about their fans and use their powers to kill demons.
Catalyst (minute 9): This is the scene with Gwi-Ma (the big bad) and Jinu (the sub-bad) where Jinu proposes his "demon boy band" plan to go after Huntr/x's fans.
Debate/A Story (minutes 10-18): Huntr/x's new single "Golden" drops and the girls do promo for it. At about the 15-minute mark, the movie reveals that Rumi (one of the girls) has demonic "patterns" on her skin, and then her normally powerful voice breaks during rehearsal. She panics and runs out. At that point we learn that she is half-demon and that "nothing can change until (her) patterns are gone." She questions herself: "How am I supposed to fix the world, fix me, when I don't have my voice?" This is a classic way to end the first act, which is the called the:
--1st Door of No Return/Break Into Two--
ACT IIa
B Story/Fun and Games (minutes 19-41): We learn that Rumi pushed up the release of "Golden" because they need to finish strengthening the Honmoon before she loses her voice. The other two girls, Mira and Zoey, declare that they have two weeks to fix Rumi's voice, not knowing what the real problem is. They go to a doctor for tonics, a scene that is largely played for comic relief. At around the 24-minute mark, the movie introduces the Saja Boys, a boy band led by Jinu. Things escalate when the Saja Boys perform a song ("Soda Pop") in the town square. The girls notice the boys have demon patterns and realize that they're trying to convert Huntr/x's fans. They suit up and prepare to kill the Saja Boys after a promo spot, but the boys trick them and escape to a bathhouse, where a battle ensues with some water demons. Rumi goes after Jinu, and he discovers that she's part demon. He helps her cover her patterns and leaves. Then there's another scene with Gwi-Ma, and we see that the Honmoon is breaking down. The girls decide to write a new song to take down the Saja Boys. Cute animal characters (a bird and a tiger) are introduced, because these kinds of things always need to have cute animal characters (see: Sammy the silvertail, etc. from the Joel Suzuki series).
Midpoint/False Victory or Defeat (minute 42): Rumi and Jinu meet. Jinu discovers that Rumi hasn't told Mira and Zoey about her demonic heritage. He tries to get on Rumi's good side by revealing his backstory, but she rejects him.
ACT IIb
Bad Guys Close In (minutes 43-57): The girls work on their diss track ("Takedown"). The Saja Boys win some idol awards and start to gain momentum. More demons start to appear. The Saja Boys crash a Huntr/x signing event. Jinu taunts Rumi about her secret while also again trying to get on her good side. Later, Rumi and Mira have a conversation where Mira starts to suspect something is up and Rumi lies and denies it. Demons start to eat more souls ("the amount of missing person reports have tripled in the last 24 hours"). Rumi meets with Jinu and proposes that he help Huntr/x win the Idol Awards, which will seal the Honmoon, get rid of the demons, and free both of them from Gwi-Ma. Later, the girls fight about the lyrics to "Takedown" the day before the Idol Awards. More demons appear, so they go off to fight them, but Rumi and Mira argue and the demons steal more souls. This Act ends just slightly early, at around the 55-minute mark.
ACT IIc
All is Lost/Dark Night of the Soul/Whiff of Death (minutes 57-64): Rumi and Jinu meet again and she says her voice is healed, while Jinu says the voices in his head are gone (nice parallel there). He agrees to throw the Idol Awards. But then there is a scene where Gwi-Ma reveals the truth about what Jinu did and says that he can't escape. This leads us to the:
--2nd Door of No Return/Break Into Three--
ACT III
Finale (minutes 65-85): This Act starts a little early, at around the 63-minute mark when the Idol Awards begin. It also does what I thought was really interesting, which is that it breaks up into its own three-act structure. At three minutes in, there is a Catalyst moment when the demons start playing "Takedown." Then the demons have "Fun and Games" when they expose Rumi's patterns. At ten minutes in (the Midpoint), there is a "False Defeat" when Rumi talks to Celine. Then the "Bad Guys Close In" (Rumi breaks down, Gwi-Ma prepares, etc.) until "All is Lost" at 13 minutes when it seems like the Saja Boys have won. The "Dark Night of the Soul" ensues when the Saja Boys sing "Your Idol." Then at 15 minutes, it goes into its own third act Finale, and the girls emerge victorious.
There you have it! People sometimes say, "doesn't following a structure make your book or movie formulaic and predictable?" It could, but that's why you have to combine craft (following a structure) with heart (infusing the structure with your own fresh ideas), and I felt the writers of this movie did an excellent job of doing just that. To quote Joel Suzuki from Volume Five, Ballad of the Bluerock: "It's like you have the same chocolate cake, but with different frosting. If you were to make a totally unique kind of cake, it might be original, but it might not taste as good."
I'm sure some of you out there might have done your own analysis of KPop Demon Hunters' story structure. If you have, I'd love to hear what you came up with, so let me know in the comments!
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