He returns the camera to Soo-jung and tells her that is he is Superman, but powerless because of cryptonite place in his head by an evil villain. Even though he is without powers he still claims to do good deeds like retrieving lost dogs, reprimanding naked men standing in public, and doing hand stands to push the sun away from the earth. Obviously, Soo-jung can tell he is a nut, but a nut that would make for interesting subject matter in her next documentary.

She then films her next documentary titled “Protect the Earth, Superman.” As usual, Soo-jung manipulates the story to get maximum effect and as a result, the documentary becomes a hit. After a dinner of celebration, Soo-jung suffers from a supreme hang over. Superman appears in front of her and takes her to a sewage drain where he claims a monster will come out. Soo-jung can only smell the aweful scent of the sewer. She decides to go to the hospital and in the process Superman gets an examination. The doctors discover something unexpected in his brain, which turns everything around.

“A Man who was Superman” combines the well regarded actor Jeong-min Hwang (Black House/Happiness) and actress/model Ji-hyun Jun, who is more regarded for her attractive appearance. Another recent Koran movie, “Venus and Mars (Ssaum),” has a similar pairing but that movie proved to be not so successful at the box office. In “Venus and Mars (Ssaum),” Kyung-gu Sol, another well regarded South Korean actor, is paired with Tae-hee Kim (The Restless) who is not so well regarded for her acting. Most of the press harped on Tae-hee Kim’s shaky performance and as a result the movie flopped.

Hopefully “A Man who was Superman” will have better luck than “Venus and Mars (Ssaum).” Ji-hyun Jun has recently adopted the name Gianna Jun for the Western markets and in particular for her upcoming role in the U.S. film “Blood: The Last Vampire.” She hasn’t had much luck in the Korea since her performance in the mega-hit “My Sassy Girl” back in 2001. Since that time, Ji-hyun Jun has been typecast in similar roles usually having the same sweet innocent girl qualities. In “A Man who was Superman” she breaks out of that typecast and plays a much more manipulative type of person (again similar to Tae-Hee Kim’s change in Venus and Mars). It will be interesting to see how audiences react to her new role and if “A Man was Superman” has better luck than “Venus and Mars (Ssaum).” The movie opens in Korean theatres on January 31, 2008.