Over the course of his career Kim Ji Woon has become one of the most unique voices in South Korea. Sure, he doesn't have the name recognition here of Oldboy's Park Chan Wook, but has Park ever told the tale of a bland businessman turned masked wrestler? Told a twisty ghost story? Gone for gangster revenge?

Okay he's done the gangster thing - sort of - but Kim has a much more diverse resume and has earned himself a reputation as one of the most technically skilled directors in the world the good old fashioned way: by actually being exactly that. Kim's a wizard with a camera as proven by the atmospheric world of A Tale of Two Sisters and the jaw dropping action of A Bittersweet Life. So the reaction to news that Kim was taking a stab at a straight up western? Glee!

The film is The Good, The Bad And The Weird and rumblings about the film running over time and over budget - so far over budget that the original production company couldn't handle the costs and it moved to a bigger outfit - were not nearly enough to dampen enthusiasm for the film and it won some strong reviews when a rough cut premiered in Cannes and has gone on to become a huge hit in its native Korea. But does it live up to the hype?

The Good, The Bad And The Weird is pure spectacle. Kim built enormous standing sets for the film and puts them to great use, creating a totally immersive world for a virtually non-stop string of chases and shootouts. Production values are gorgeous and the staging energetic. There is always - absolutely always - something impressive to look at on screen. It doesn't take long, though, to realize that something very basic has changed here in the way Kim approaches film making.

Sure, he's never been shy of spectacle in the past but he has always started from his characters and worked his way out from there, making sure the action comes from the characters rather than ruling them. Here, though, he takes exactly the opposite path, building the film purely around his sets and action sequences. Need a big train robbery? Check. Three way shootout? Check. Knife wielding maniac? Check. Gun fight carried out by bounty hunters swinging on ropes high above the village streets? Oh, god yes, check. The characters, though, the element that is normally his strongest suit? They're not quite an afterthought but they're not far off.

Here's the basic story. We're in Manchuria during Japan's expansionist era. Korea is under Japanese rule and many - gangsters, outlaws and loyalists - have fled to the Chinese province to escape their control. The Chinese aren't crazy about having them there but are more concerned with the fact that the Japanese are now using Korea as a base to push ever farther west into Chinese territory. It's a wild west, indeed, though far off in the east. And in this world there is a map, a fabled map leading to some unknown treasure. The Japanese want it and are willing to pay handsomely to get it. The gangster who owns it sees the chance to make a huge profit by selling and then promptly stealing it back to claim the treasure himself and hires a notorious gangster - the titular Bad - to rob the train the exchange is taking place on immediately after the sale.

The problem? Another two bit thug - the Weird - takes down the train shortly before the Bad arrives and further complicating matters is the presence of the Good, a bounty hunter who wants to claim the prizes on both thieves heads. And that's the movie. Bad wants map, Weird has map, Good wants both Bad and Weird. Yes, each of the characters has actual names but they're so barely fleshed out that the titles seem more appropriate somehow. We get the characters and setup within the first ten minutes and from that point on it's a non stop succession of chases and fight sequences.

What saves the film from becoming completely shallow - and I'm not against a few empty calories when there's as much eye candy on display as there is here - is the presence of two of Korea's very finest actors in a pair of the lead roles. Song Kang Ho - who you may recognize from monster hit monster movie The Host - is a bundle of brilliant, eccentric energy as the Weird while Lee Byung Hyun - soon to make his Hollywood debut in GI Joe - is nothing but stylish menace as the Bad. Kim has worked with both actors in the past and drawn out some of their very best performances and that is once again the case here, with both transcending the weak material to turn in charismatic, supremely watchable performances. The Good? He's alright, too, but clearly outclassed by this pair.

So, Kim's biggest film may not be his best but it's pretty damn entertaining and absolutely gorgeous on the big screen. It's already been bought for video release in North America but do yourself a favor and see this one the way it's meant to be seen: you need to go large to fully appreciate what Kim's done.