While doing his duty as an honest citizen and chasing a bag snatcher, physics teacher Myung-woo (Hyuk Jang) is mistakenly arrested by tempermental police woman Kyung-jin (Ji-Hyun Jun) and subjected to a rather aggressive interrogation at the local police station by her. After she is eventually convinced that Myung-woo is innocent, but adamant that she should not say sorry, Kyung-jin decides to apologise by making her feelings known in front of the teacher's all-girl class. What follows is an unusual relationship that gradually develops into a tender romance when Myung-woo begins to discover why his new friend is the ways she is. However, the hot-headed police woman is constantly putting herself in dangerous situations in her bid to prove herself to her superiors, while long-suffering Myung-woo faithfully puts himself in danger to help out. Then, one such situation spawns an incident that proves to be a major turning point in the lives of the young lovers.

If you didn't like 'My Sassy Girl', it's unlikely you'll want to watch 'Windstruck'. Even if you did like the Jae-Young Kwak hit, you may initially feel slightly resentful when it appears that 'Windstruck' is exploring identical themes. Nonetheless, this is the kind of film that rewards the patient viewer, taking the strengths of 'My Sassy Girl' and using them as a catalyst to explore other avenues. This amounts to an even more implosive odyssey through the emotional mangle - the Asian cinematic skill of juggling comedy, romance and tragedy is never as extreme as it is here.

'Windstruck' could initially be seen as 'My Sassy Girl 2', so similar is its set-up and execution. Director Jae-Young Kwak seems to use the old 'if it 'aint broke, don't fix it' edict, refusing to tamper with a winning formula and quite content to let beautiful, yet brooding Ji-Hyun Jun dominate the proceedings once again. However, after thirty episodic, but thoroughly enjoyable minutes, Kwak ups the ante and takes 'Windstruck' to a very different plain. Without resorting to spoilers, 'Windstruck' turns from the gentle trappings of the rom-com sub-genre into full blown drama, a transition that is far more powerful than 'My Sassy Girl' and even more melodramatic.

With the scope for drama increased, 'Windstruck' becomes an appropriate platform for the thespian skills of its leading lady. Kyung-jin begins as a carbon copy of the infamous 'Sassy Girl', but Jae-Young Kwak stretches her as the film progresses, throwing her into gruelling situations in order to achieve his goal. By the time the film reaches its soul-stirring denoument, Kyung-Jin is a rounded character and not just an outlandish cartoon character full of idiosyncracies. Ji-Hyun Jun is exceptional in this draining role and shows a remarkable range, swinging from ill-tempered to distraught sometimes within the same scene. She sparks up the same rapport with love interest Hyuk Jang (who is equally capable as the quixotic Myung-Woo) that she achieved with Cha Tae-Hyun in 'My Sassy Girl', but 'Windstruck' affords her a greater opportunity to test her acting talents.

As with 'My Sassy Girl', 'Windstruck' is an extravagant two hours in length, a fact that eventually becomes its undoing. The aforementioned acting is first-rate, the characters appealing and the twisting plot engrossing, but Jae-Young Kwak truly needs to utilise the talents of a good editor. While the director crams the narrative with incident, he occasionally repeats earlier sentiments in wasted scenes and therefore lets the pace ebb away. 'Windstruck' copes with an epic running time better than many of its contemparies would've done - largely thanks to the power it exerts over the viewer throughout - but it still smacks of self-indulgence.

Though 'Windstruck' stumbles in the same areas as 'My Sassy Girl' did, it thankfully succeeds in a similar way. It takes an innocent everyman, someone who viewers can warm to, and lands him in the frenzied world of his erratic 'girlfriend'. Though such an idea is no longer original, the comedy still works well and the subsequent drama is given greater resonance because of it. Jae-Young Kwak also concludes the film with a very playful, highly controversial ending that cements the connections to 'My Sassy Girl' once and for all. While some have commented that this twist denegrades 'Windstruck', turning it into a wannabe sequel, this reviewer found it to be a welcome link to past glories and a cheeky way of linking two different cinematic worlds. In the end, the interpretation is left to each individual viewer.

From surreal comedy to heart-wrenching drama, 'Windstruck' is the kind of sprightly amalgamation of themes that would have to be severely diluted to get an expected Hollywood makeover. It's fresh dispite its obvious allusions to 'My Sassy Girl' and has that unashamed attempt to stir the viewer that only Asian cinema seems to have mastered. Melodramatic, beautiful, witty, hilarious, tragic, heavy-handed, overlong... 'Windstruck' is an enjoyable enigma that has enough virtues to make even a stoic critic a little more forgiving.

The main reason that I really enjoyed about this movie was the main characters. Jeon Ji-Hyeon plays Gyeong-Jin. She's far from your typical girl. On the outside, she is a very strong person with a kick ass attitude. She works as a cop, cleaning up the mean streets of the Red Light District facing hoodlums from purse snatchers to gangsters. Of course, inside she's a shy timid girl looking to be loved by a kindhearted sweet boy. And that boy happens to be Jang Hyeok as Myung-Woo. On the outside, he is very different from Gyeong-Jin, as his personality is a lot more timid. He is high school teacher. But another reason that makes the two so different, is that Gyeong-Jin is portrayed in such a macho tough manner, while Myung-Woo seems more like the typical damsel in distress. (This reversal of typical leading roles adds to the movie's charm.) However, he does try to act like the "man" and take care of Gyeong-Jin, but it quickly becomes apparent that she doesn't need it. Together they make quite a pair, getting into several cute and funny situations.

As for the story, the story begins with the two meeting for the first time. Gyeong-Jin was hot in pursuit of purse snatcher and Myung-Woo being a very good guy was also chasing after the criminal. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your outlook), Gyeong-Jin mistook him for the criminal. Needless to say, he gets arrested, beat up, and made the fool. The story continues when their path crosses again one night when they are forced to work together on a volunteer neighborhood patrol watch. It is during this night when the cuteness of the movie really begins to unfold. The two main character's relationship is defined and it is quite fun to watch. The movie becomes a myriad of cute, silly, and playfully fun scenes that give you a chance to really get to know the characters.

Of course, the movie is not without its faults. While I did enjoy Windstruck's cute, silly, and fun approach to a romantic comedy, I didn't fall in love with the film. The drawback is that when the movie tries to delve away from its silliness and cuteness, it becomes a little too wishy-washy. A few parts the movie tried to be a little too serious and it really didn't fit with the overall tone at all. Another slight difficulty I had with this movie was some of the situations that the two lovebirds found them selves in were a bit far from reality. Of course, there are not many of these "out of place" scenes to really ruin the feature.

Overall, Windstruck is a cute and fun movie with a pair of characters that are very easy to like. While the approach the story takes doesn't always seem really realistic and sometimes a bit farfetched, it is easy to get lost in the relationship that is developed between the two main characters. The movie's approach, with a touch of comedy, romance, drama, and action, has a bit of everything for everyone.

Windstruck is a movie that encompasses a lot of different genre, by putting the two main characters in a number of cute, fun, and sometimes odd situations. The movie itself is quite delightful and the performances from the leading roles are done very well. This movie is a great romantic comedy that is really easy to enjoy.

The movie stars Ji-hyun Jun, who you may remember as the lead chick in Sassy. She plays a very similar character in this film (overbearing; rude), but this time she's a police officer. It starts off with her mistakenly arresting the wrong guy (Hyuk Jang - Volcano High) after a woman gets her pursed snatched. Of course that's not the last they see of each other, as they become friends and more-so as the film progresses.

Although the movie tries to be another Sassy Girl, it didn't quite capture the feel and humor. Despite that, being a fan of Sassy and Jae-young Kwak work as a talented writer/director, I have to give the film a solid 8/10. It falls in the category as another successful romantic comedy from South Korea (in my opinion).