Lessons highlighting family love intertwines with the sad reality of human atrocities and selfishness in the riveting narrative of Emergency Declaration.
With its enthralling and fluid storyline; the film imparted strong messages relevant to our times.
K-Movie Rating:
“Emergency Declaration” Takes Off In Philippine Cinemas Nationwide
Emergency Declaration Quick Recap
Moving to a new place for his daughter’s medical treatment, Jae-hyuk (Lee Byung Hun) boards a plane bound for Hawaii.
Unknown to him and the passengers, a psychopath named Jin-seok (Im Si Wan), who is set to execute an extended suicide, also picks the flight Jae-hyuk and his daughter are in.
He chose it mainly because he was also offended by Jae-hyuk and his daughter also saw him smuggling an item by cutting his own flesh and hiding it.
Also on the plane is the wife of Detective In-ho (Song Kang Ho) who receives the tip about Jin-seok’s plan of the terrorist attack. Realizing that the man and his wife boarded the same flight, and becoming aware that the plane is being refused to land anywhere, In-ho devotes everything he has to solve the crisis.
Successfully executing his evil plan, Jin-seok refuses to provide details about the antidote as he is keen to die with all the passengers.
Pressed with time, the officials in South Korea try to negotiate but fail. When the lead pilot dies because of the virus Jin-seok brought in the plane, Jae-hyuk who used to be a pilot is forced to step up and help lead the plane with his old friend Hyun-soo (Kim Nam Gil).
While some of the passengers succumb to the virus, the plane is not granted landing permission in the United States and even Japan, posing great danger because of the limited fuel sustaining its flight.
To make the situation worse, even landing in South Korea is also not possible. Detective In-ho volunteers to prove that the vaccine they retrieve would work. At the same time, the surviving passengers unitedly decide to make a heartbreaking sacrifice.
Emergency Declaration Highlights and Musings
Headlined with a talented cast, the portrayal of the cast is expected to be at an excellent level. Equally getting enough spotlight on their characters; the actors’ efforts led to the hard-to-put-down narrative.
Flowing and Thrilling Narrative
Without cooling down, the thrilling vibe of Emergency Declaration prospered at each shift of the story arc.
Building up from the introduction of the characters, the discovery of the virus, and the characters confronting their pains; the story connected its relatively big cast in its projected picture.
With the conflict focused on the defined reactions of various groups of people looped in the problem; the excitement heightens rapidly owing to how it used emotions and reasons from the characters’ perspective.
The scene when the aircraft hovers in the air because its home country refuses to grant a landing pass was beautifully and heartbreakingly captured. It ruminates on valid selfishness that people can do in times of crisis. At the same time, it ponders on warranted sacrifices we can go to protect our loved ones.
Valuable Life Lessons
Numerous insightful messages spread throughout the series. Jin-seok leaves a note to be as kind as we can to every person we encounter, in case that person has been needing just one soul to keep his sanity and faith in humanity intact.
Jae-hyuk and In-ho both gave reassuring nods to how making sacrifices for our family is not influenced by blood relations but by pure love. That same love naturally extends to people that are not related to us.
The whiney man in the business class section teaches us not to find faults in already bleak and worrying situations. Our actions no matter if they are good or bad always make a rebound, and it might be twice as good or bad.
Likewise, the decision-makers highlighted in the film serve a nudge to settle for quick and sound responses in times of disastrous scenarios. At the very least, we see the perspectives of government officials on how they confront national-level issues involving citizens’ safety.
Lastly, Jae-hyuk’s takeaway on braving choices that would save the lives of the majority, emphasizes how our own choices sometimes can have an impact on other people. There are times that we can choose to be selfish, but when decisions directly impact people other than ourselves, it is important to opt for the greater good.
Swiftly moving to a consistent exciting tone, Emergency Declaration followed the yardstick set for the disaster film genre. Its shining moment perhaps is that scene when the passengers chose to sacrifice their lives and not force to land when their fellow citizens stage protests for their landing because of the virus they could bring.
It is such a resonating reminder of the reality that our nature as humans to survive based on our instincts overpowers rationality. Yielding to inconsiderateness is inevitable.
But our heedlessness at least should not blind us to stop and think if there are solutions that might have been overlooked.
If you are looking for a satisfying movie that would keep you glued while watching, Emergency Declaration is a safe bet.
Filipino moviegoers can watch this exciting film brimming with meaningful lessons on Philippine cinemas nationwide. Check out the list below.
Photos: Viva International Pictures
Philippine fans can watch Emergency Declaration at cinemas nationwide. Visit Viva International Picture for details on where you can watch the film.
abbyinhallyuland thanks Viva International Pictures for the media invite to the special screening
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