Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days

Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days (Korean: 신과함께: 인과 연) is a 2018 South Korean fantasy action film directed by Kim Yong-hwa and based on a webtoon by Joo Ho-min, Along With the Gods. It serves as a sequel to the 2017 film Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds. It stars Ha Jung-woo, Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Hyang-gi, Ma Dong-seok and Kim Dong-wook. The film was released on August 1, 2018.

Plot

The three grim reapers Gang-rim, Haewonmak and Lee Deok-choon will guide their 49th soul Kim Soo-hong to the afterlife trials. Meanwhile, God of the House will recover the grim reapers' memories from 1,000 years ago.

Cast

Production

Along With the Gods Part 1 and 2 took ₩40 billion (around US$36.6 million) to produce. Both parts of the film were shot simultaneously. Dexter Studios, one of Asia's largest film production and visual effects studios, who was behind director Kim Yong-hwa's previous film Mr. Go (2013), created the visual effects for the film. It was reported that around 300 artists and technicians took part in the film's production.
Chinese production company Alpha Pictures invested $2.2 million.
Filming began on May 26, 2016, and ended on March 22, 2017, for part 1 and 2.
Some scenes that featured actors Oh Dal-su and Choi Il-hwa were re-shot due to their controversies as they were replaced with substitute actors.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 44% based on nine reviews and an average rating of 5.5/10. James Marsh of South China Morning Post rated it 2/5.

Elizabeth Kerr of The Hollywood Reporter gave a mixed review and wrote, "Though the two films were shot simultaneously, there's a sense of 'more' to Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days that doesn't really do it any service. Like many a sequel bent on topping its predecessor to prove the first entry wasn't a fluke, the end result is just a bigger, noisier, less focused slog rather than continued world-building."

Noel Murray of Los Angeles Times gave a mixed review and wrote, "While Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days is awkwardly bloated, it does eventually develop some momentum. Once viewers get accustomed to a movie that can move within minutes from courtroom drama to dinosaur attacks, they may enjoy the overwhelming spectacle of it all."

Adeline Tan of The Strait Times gave 3.5 ticks and wrote: "the 141-minute movie, with its complex storyline, can be draggy at times, and the constant scene-changing can be confusing."

Yoon Min-sik of The Korea Herald wrote: "The film is one that had potential to be great but ended up just being OK, and that is not OK."

Jason Bechervaise of Screen International wrote: "Although at times, the special effects look clunky, some of the more ambitious set-pieces are impressive given how such a film produced in Hollywood would invariably require a more sizeable budget."

Box office

South Korea

Prior to its release, Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days set the record for the highest pre-sale tickets in South Korea's box office history with 60.5% reservation rate. The rate reached 42 million, outdoing the record of the 2017 film The Battleship Island which reached the same number of reservations on the day before the opening of the film.

The film also broke the opening day record in South Korea by attracting 1,263,788 viewers on the first day of its release, which is more than twice the amount of Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (422,339 viewers). On the second day of its release, the film attracted more than 2 million viewers. On August 4, the film attracted 1,466,416 viewers, making the film set a record of the most viewers in a single day, surpassing Avengers: Infinity War that attracted 1,333,310 viewers in a single day before. On August 5, it was reported that Along with the Gods had attracted 5,409,817 viewers on its fifth day, making the film the fastest to reach such number, surpassing Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds which set the record in a week, and The Admiral: Roaring Currents, the first most viewed film in Korea, which set the record in a six days. Along with the Gods placed first in the weekly box office. The film accumulated $46.2 million from 6.2 million admissions. Along with the Gods holds the record for the fastest film to reach 7, 8 and 9 million views in South Korean box office history. It passed 10 million views on August 16, 2018. The film passed 12 million views as of August 30, 2018, becoming the 13th most-watched film of all time in South Korea.

Taiwan

On its first day of release, Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days scored 37 million. It became the film with the biggest opening week gross for any Korean film in Taiwan, scoring 5.8 million in ticket sales in a week. The film had the third-highest first week sales after Avengers: Infinity War and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in Taiwan.

Hong Kong

Prior to its official release, Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days scored 8 million in pre-sale in Hong Kong. On its day of release in Hong Kong, the film earned 3.18 million, topping the box office. On August 9, the film reached 10 million and scored 20 million on its fourth day of its release, achieving the highest first week sales in Hong Kong.