KPop Demon Hunters

Look, I'm as happy as anyone that Brian Kelly was fired. I'm sure even he's happy because he's going to get paid a whole lot of money to do even LESS work than he normally does. The reason I'm disappointed is that it just showed how committed both LSU and Notre Dame were to winning. Brian Kelly was at ND about seven to eight years longer than it was clear he was never going to win a national championship. LSU, on the other hand, sent that snake-oil salesman away after only four years. Years ago, when arguing with Notre Dame fans about Kelly, they always countered with, "Who else would you hire? I am so smart."

Thad Ravehurst and his Aggies send Coach Kelly packing with over $53,000,000.00. #BigSadBrianKelly

I hate that argument. Sure, things could get worse, but with Kelly, they're not going to get better. At Notre Dame, there is no conference championship consolation prize. It's National Championship or bust in South Bend. If you have a coach who is making it painfully obvious he will never win a championship, what's the point of keeping him? Besides, beating up on tomato cans and losing to every good team you play doesn't inspire confidence. I can at least take solace in the fact that his final two games (both losses) were against people he hired at ND as defensive coordinators. With that said, let's discuss...

KPop Demon Hunters (2025)

Anytime I go to the park with Lincoln, he will ask every single person if they want to play tag. The line usually goes, "Hey, do you wanna play tag? My dad is it!" If we go to the park, and I don't have Kali with me, I'm joining whatever game Lincoln is playing, and I'm usually the "bad guy." Earlier this month, we stopped by the zoo, and Lincoln was playing with the daughter of one of Dear's coworkers. Eventually, I got called over to play KPop Demon Hunters. I had never seen the movie before, but they seemed to be having fun. I quickly found out that I was Mira. It was fun, and I had to see the movie so I could find out what I was like in the movie!

A trio of KPop stars in the group HUNTR/X are more than what they appear. They're actually a part of an ancient line of warriors that fight demons. On top of their magical weapons, they have a magic voice that helps them in their fight to seal off their city from the encroaching demons. HUNTR/X is super successful and is just one award show win away from sealing the portal and locking the demons away forever. The problem is, after centuries of constantly losing to the demon hunters, one of the demons has an idea. He wants to create a demon boy band to steal fans from HUNTR/X and steal their souls that way, so the head baddie can escape and take over the world.

That's the broad strokes of the plot, and there is absolutely no way THAT plot should work. Just typing it out, it sounds so corny, (get it, corny? What if I said "popcorny?" Nah, well watch it again!) The corniness is like something you'd see in a Disney Channel made-for-TV movie. But you know what? This movie is awesome! Recently, I made a Facebook post saying that Dreamworks was better than Disney. After watching this movie, I can confidently say Sony is better than Disney as well. It has been a long time since Disney put out something this good or even close to it.

It's hard to pinpoint what I liked most about this movie because everything is so good, so I'll go down the line. The animation is fun. It seems normal, but when the demon hunters get excited, their faces get a very cartoonish quality that made me smile a few times. There are also moments when the ladies get enamored with the evil boy band the "Saja Boys." The action scenes are good. The fight scenes are cool because a lot of times, the demons aren't the greatest fighters, so they rely on numbers. It's cool watching them trying to swarm the trio while they mow down the baddies with their mystical weapons. The boy band baddies look cool when they're in their true form. I like the look of them in their all black with the hats. The story takes some unexpected turns that were pleasant surprises, including one that's really cool and drives the plot. It's also just cheesy enough for it to be fun, but not too much where you roll your eyes. But what really makes this movie is the music.

I am not familiar with K-pop, but my goodness, were these songs good. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks in my car, like 100% of the time. But recently, I was on my way to Kroger after Dear had driven my car. I was about to switch the input over when I realized that "Golden" was playing. At this time, no podcast or audiobook could get me to turn that song off. Now that is a HOT beat! It's not just "Golden" either; there are several great, not good, great songs, plus, they're all relevant to the story and what's going on. On the surface, they seem like normal pop songs, but upon a closer listen, you realize what they're actually trying to say. These songs aren't just catchy; they tell a deeper story than what you're seeing, and the movie has some certified bangers on there.

My son's favorite character is also a major standout. The first time we see the leader of the evil boy band, he's all shadowy, and he's being flanked by a very scary-looking and also shadowy Tiger. When we finally see what the tiger looks like, it's so hilariously cute and dopey. He has such a round, smiley face and is the last thing you'd expect to be hanging around with a demon. There's a fun scene where the tiger knocks over something and keeps trying to get it standing back upright. No matter how many times he tries, it falls back over, and he tries again and again without losing his derpy smile. It's so cute, and then later there's a scene where it's paid off hilariously.

HUNTR/X is working on a takedown song of the Saja Boys, and Rumi is throwing away lyric sheets because she's frustrated with them. While she's writing, the tiger, named Derpy, shows up. Rumi hears her bandmates coming, so she tries to hide Derpy before they see him and ask questions she would rather not have asked. While hiding, the camera focuses on Derpy, whose eyes get wide upon falling on the trash can with the lyrics on it. At this point, I'm thinking Derpy was going to steal the lyrics to let the Saja Boys know what HUNTR/X is up to. But nope! Derpy just notices the trash can is tipped over and wants to get it upright. I can't do it justice here, but it's so funny watching it play out.

I also loved the finale. It seems like the Saja Boys have won, and they're performing their new song. Their song is catchy, but it's the demons taking a victory lap, basically telling the hypnotized audience that they're all toast. But in the middle of their set, Rumi shows up and sings an incredibly emotional song, leading to an incredibly fun final showdown. I can't say enough about the scene of watching the three of them come together.

If I had one complaint, it's a small one. There's a scene where HUNTR/X is attacked by demons on a plane. The fight ends with the baddies splitting the plane in two to try and kill the trio in the crash. What's weird is, the plane had to of crashed because it's split in two and the entire staff were demons. Weirdly, there's a plane crash in a major city, and then it never gets mentioned again. Like, there's zero chance that no one died on the ground or had several buildings destroyed. Normally, something like that would prevent the movie from getting the vaunted perfect score, but I don't care; this movie was a whole lot of fun.

10 Dr. Chainsaws!