KPop Demon Hunters (2025) sees Sony Pictures Animation fully embrace their status as the top leading innovators in modern animation, albeit while falling a little short in the story department. Directed by former DreamWorks artist Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, who helmed Wish Dragon (2021), KPop Demon Hunters comes at a time when Sony’s animated stock couldn’t be higher as the industry waits with bated breath for the final Spider-Verse movie. Fans of that franchise will get a sneak peek into the new ideas and engines the wizards at Sony have cooked up through KPop Demon Hunters, but will also be faced with a less complex narrative compared to the standard set by the Spider-Man films.
Despite its struggles, the premise of KPop Demon Hunters is fantastic. It’s all in the title: a K-pop girl group (named Huntrix) has been given the ancestral duty to protect the world from soul-sucking demons… who just so happen to have taken the form of a rival K-pop boy band named the Saja Boys. This is the right amount of ridiculous and presents a perfectly poised scenario that superhero stories have been riffing off for almost a century. “A hero must keep their public persona secret from their superpowered alter ego.” Adding depth to this story is the group’s leader, Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho of Teen Wolf fame), who is hiding the fact that she is part demon.
A Clunky Narrative
The animated movie then takes a sharp turn from its insane setup to humanize the demons and establish that they are enslaved by a dictator hungry for mortal souls. There’s probably an analogue to a real-life issue here, but the script doesn’t decide which one. KPop Demon Hunters tries to convey a message about accepting people who are different, yet it feels blurry and unspecific, resulting in a lack of emotional resonance.
The screenplay, which is credited to four writers, including directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, is also heavy-handed in establishing the other members of Huntrix: Zoey (Ji-young Yoo) and Mira (May Hong). There is a scene in the first act where a doctor lists all of their personality traits and flaws, a task the writing had already largely accomplished up to this point. KPop Demon Hunters is whimsically charming, with some astonishing action sequences; there’s no denying that. However, it doesn’t reach the same emotional heights Sony has achieved in the past.
Spectacular Animation Makes Up for a Thin Plot
It’s clear that KPop Demon Hunters is aiming for a much younger audience than the Spider-Verse films and, therefore, is slightly less ambitious with its characters and messaging. Ambition is more than abundant in the movie’s visuals, though. KPop Demon Hunters takes Sony Pictures Animation to extreme heights in terms of spectacle. The film is visually stimulating from start to finish. It opens with a crowd of crazed Huntrix fans moving with jagged frame rates, setting the stage for a sincere and endearing animation style that defies convention and beats to its own drum.
It doesn’t make sense why it’s so satisfying to watch animated characters move like this; perhaps a century of animation aiming for fluidity makes eccentric K-pop stars who clip between action poses feel like a breath of fresh air. Simply put, KPop Demon Hunters is just so fun to watch. Something completely new on display from Sony is what they can do with facial animations. Their CG models are getting increasingly close to behaving exactly like 2D drawings, where any of their features can be swapped or morphed in a quick instance. There’s a lot of anime homage in KPop Demon Hunters, too. Vein pops appear on foreheads, and facial features collapse into simple lines in hilariously dire moments.
When Action Scenes and Music Videos Collide
It’s bizarre, in a good way, to see 3D models with eyes changing shapes and mouths snapping from gaping holes to simple lines. CG animation is often at its most exciting when it’s seamlessly replicating what 2D animation has been able to do for decades. Sony Pictures Animation is making stunning technical achievements, that’s true. Yet, it somehow seems that studios are innovating in order to return to where animation was 30 years ago.
KPop Demon Hunters‘ animation is given ample opportunity to shine through its many fight sequences and K-pop music videos, often colliding the two. The design of the demons is great; many of them have a plasticky skin texture, as if they are wearing masks, which makes them feel even more intimidating. Outlandish, fantasy-inspired swords and daggers are used by the hunters to take them down, leading to close and well-choreographed combat. The K-pop music videos provide the animators with additional chances to flex their skills, incorporating stylish character poses and some extremely surreal imagery. For K-pop fans, these are super fun moments. These sequences might be tough for those not so inclined, though.
Sony Pictures Animation’s KPop Demon Hunters delivers on being one of the most visually interesting movies of 2025, in spite of its basic storyline. Being so culturally specific and depicting Korea in a way that has never been seen on screen before gives it an edge and a unique quality only it can boast. The best animation studio in the West right now is still Sony, and even their narratively flawed animated films are still exhilarating to watch. We can’t wait for what they do next.
KPop Demon Hunters premieres on Netflix on June 20!
Release Date: June 20, 2025.
Directed by Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans.
Screenplay by Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans, Danya Jimenez, & Hannah McMechan.
Story by Maggie Kang.
Produced by Michelle Wong.
Main Cast: Arden Cho, Ahn Hyo-seop, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Yunjin Kim, Joel Kim Booster, Liza Koshy, Daniel Dae Kim, Ken Jeong, & Byung-hun Lee.
Composer: Marcelo Zarvos.
Production Companies: Sony Pictures Animation.
Distributor: Netflix.
Runtime: 95 minutes.
Rated PG.
