The Tower (2012) - 7 stars out of 10

The Tower (2012) - 7 stars out of 10

"The Tower" was far from what I expected.  While the synopsis looked interesting, the cheesy character interactions throughout the first 30 minutes of the film made me consider giving up... but they served their purpose perfectly.  About 15 minutes into the disaster portion of the film, I felt myself emotionally attached to the characters and truly concerned with their fate.  While the sometimes overly-cheesy acting at the beginning hinders it from being a memorable Morgan-Freeman-esque film, it still surpasses the typical expectation of a disaster film.  It seems that the film has some big names from the Korean acting community and I might have a different opinion if I were watching big name American actors play these parts, but as an outsider I was actually quite taken with all of the characters.  Outside of the impressive dramatic performances in the latter half of the film, the real reason to see this is for the special effects.  While it often feels like it took its inspiration from the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the plot is interesting and you will feel the fire through the tv.  It definitely creates some awesome moments of appreciation for fireman and the heroic ending is quite moving.  It isn't every day that you stumble upon a Christmas-Themed-Korean-Disaster-Film, but that's just all the more reason that you have to see this one.