Why don't we have more action musicals? Lin-Manuel Miranda has theorized, “Action movies, musicals, and porn movies are all fighting for the same storytelling real estate. When you can't talk anymore, you sing, fight, or f*ck.” KPop Demon Hunters is rated PG, so the third option is off the menu, but when it comes to combining fights and songs, it's orgasmic. Right from the opening “How It's Done” number, the girl group Huntrix battles demons in perfect rhythm on their private jet before skydiving into a concert stadium as the plane falls apart, the latest film from Sony Pictures Animation hits all the right notes of spectacle. Fans of Revue Starlight, Baby Driver, and the “Stronger Than You” scene from Steven Universe will be filled with glee.

The story, by Maggie Kang, who co-directs with Chris Applehans and co-wrote with Applehans, Danya Jimenez, and Hannah McMechan, operates in Buffy the Vampire Slayer mode with an added sense of cartoon absurdity. In every generation, there's a trio of hunters whose musical prowess protects Korea and the world from demons, their voices sealing the Honmoon barrier between worlds. The current trio, Huntrix, consists of “problem child” Mira, naive American Zoey, and group leader Rumi, who hides a secret complicating this world's basic understanding of good and evil. Their manager, Bobby, is blissfully unaware of their fate-of-the-world responsibilities, while former hunter/idol Celine mentors them on destroying all demons. To fight back, the demons — former humans fallen into despair and controlled by the demon king Gwi-Ma — have decided to challenge the hunters with a K-pop group of their own: the Saja Boys.

After the Spider-Verse movies and The Mitchells vs. The Machines, the Sony animators are at the cutting edge of CGI with textures that feel hand-crafted. Similar to Spider-Verse, KPop Demon Hunters makes stunning use of variable frame rates and hyper-stylized color schemes. The freshest innovations here revolve around the comedic expressions, which feel influenced by anime and the early 2000s wave of anime-inspired Western cartoons (Totally Spies!, Teen Titans, etc.) while somehow fitting on the 3D models. We're going to see hundreds of reaction gifs of the Huntrix girls' wild takes; the transformations Zoey's eyes go through upon first seeing the Saja Boys is one of the funniest series of visual gags I've seen in a while.

The pure pop silliness of the movie's first half-hour is so immensely entertaining that it's a mild disappointment when the movie gets more serious. There's still humor throughout, and the third act succeeds in merging Rumi's journey of self-acceptance with the action-musical spectacle, but the angsty midsection drags. The heavier themes are hamstrung in places by the film's family-friendly nature; the background that weighs on Rumi so hard can't be done justice here (that's what fanfic's for, I guess). While the Saja Boy leader Jinu's tragic backstory is interesting, I never found myself caring much for his romantic tension with Rumi, and so his story's would-be big emotional moment never hit that hard. It doesn't help that Jinu and Rumi's duet, “Free,” is the one musical number where the K-pop production style doesn't work for the material (two people singing to each other alone shouldn't sound the same as a concert or a recorded single!). (Though I do have one last quibble on said soundtrack: It's ironic that “Takedown,” the song that's morally bad for the group in-universe, also happens to be the song that gets covered by TWICE in the end credits — a bop, to be sure, but one that feels odd to end the movie on. Why not end on “Golden,” the film's best song that feels a bit more representative of the movie's general ethos?)The best part of the romantic subplot is a joke where Rumi and Jinu meet a fan who ships them.

Instead of spending so much time on the romance and general brooding, I'd have been happy to see more development of the other two hunters. Both Mira and Zoey are great characters, their strengths and insecurities so clearly established within their more limited screen time that it feels like they could each carry their own movie (sequel opportunities!). Outside of the action and music scenes, many of my favorite moments were the ones where three girls are just hanging, making the most of their limited free time to fool around before they're called back into the strenuous demands of the idol/superhero life.

I'm not sure why Sony chose to sell KPop Demon Hunters to Netflix rather than release it in theaters. This is a movie that deserves the biggest screen and the loudest sound system possible. It's energetic popcorn entertainment with a great sense of style and humor that would slay with a large audience. Even watching at home alone, this is a very fun movie, even if it lacks the narrative strength to become an instant classic. And, importantly for a pop musical, I'm sure to listen to the soundtrack over and over again.