“War of the Arrows” Korean Theatrical Poster
Director: Kim Han-Min
Cast: Park Hae-Il, Ryu Seung-Ryong, Moon Chae-Won, Kim Moo-Yeol, Park Gi-Woong, Lee Han-Wi, Lee Kyung-Young, Park Ki-Woong, Ryohei Otani, Kim Ku-Taek
Running Time: 122 min.
By HKFanatic
“War of the Arrows” is a blockbuster Korean film set during the Second Manchu invasion of Korea in the mid-17th century. Our hero, Nam-Yi, is the best archer in all the land – but his father was murdered when he was just a boy for opposing the laws of the King. Nam-Yi and his sister, Ja-In, were taken in as orphans by a local lord. Time has passed and now the lord’s son is asking for Ja-In’s hand in marriage. Nam-Yi reluctantly agrees to give his sister away. All is well on the happy wedding day…until some damn Manchus come riding over the hill and ransack the entire village. They kidnap Ja-In and her groom and set Nam-Yi on the trail to rescue them both. But can he overcome his inner doubt and hone his bow skills in time to save them?
This film ended up becoming the #1 box office hit in South Korea last year with over 7 million admissions. I wish I could say I knew why it captivated audiences as much as it did but I found “War of the Arrows” to be merely serviceable as an historical action piece. It is handsomely produced, there’s no doubt about that, with solid special effects and lengthy action sequences. If you just want to see characters whizzing arrows at each other for 2 hours, you’ll probably be entertained.
On that note, the last thirty minutes of the movie is devoted almost entirely to an extended chase sequence, featuring our protagonist on the run from a well-trained team of Manchus. They hide behind rocks, fire arrows at each other, jump across cliffs, and even do battle with a computer-generated tiger. There’s not much dialogue during this segment of the film and it admittedly goes on much longer than necessary, but this is definitely the height of the action quotient in “War of the Arrows.”
Much like Ridley Scott’s attempt at reviving “Robin Hood” in 2010, “War of the Arrows” is a lavishly mounted epic that left me feeling disconnected with what was happening onscreen. It wasn’t long before I realized this was not a movie where logic would come into play: during the first five minutes, some pursuit dogs run right past a pair of hiding kids as though they’ve suddenly lost their sense of smell. Later on, about a dozen characters make a inhuman leap across a chasm and climb a sheer rockface, a feat that would be impressive even in an episode of “Dragonball Z.”
Lately I’ve found that Korean movies sometimes have a habit of making their protagonists foible to a fault. I understand that we need to feel like our hero isn’t perfect and that he has some personal adversity to overcome in addition to defeating the bad guys. But scenes of Nam-Yi puking his guts out after a night of binge drinking, breaking down in tears, or continually missing the target with his arrow don’t inspire much confidence in our hero. I want a good guy who comes across as capable, not one who seems like he might not even be up to the occasion. I had similar feelings with another recent Korean film, “The Sword With No Name.” Nam-Yi seems to persevere in this film not because he’s particularly brave or smart but because, in the end, he’s the best shot with a bow
“War of the Arrows” arrives on Region 1 Blu-ray+DVD combo from distributor Well Go USA. Once again, they have done an excellent job packing an Asian film for the Western market. The visual transfer is superb and allows the scenery and costume details to truly pop. The only effect that sticks out like a sore thumb is the tiger that is alternately CG and green-screened into the movie but, hey, what are you going to do. You can’t exactly dump a live tiger into the midst of actors anymore. Overall, “War of the Arrows” has its slow parts and its predictable moments but if you’re craving arrow-slinging action and fierce Manchu warriors, it should fit the ticket.
HKFanatic’s Rating: 6/10
