Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I'm hearing a lot about this one as it starts screening, and I can't wait to get a look at it. Before you read the review, you might want to SEE THE TRAILER HERE!!
Harry,
I just saw a press premier of Musa: Warriors here in Seoul... it was for foreign correspondents, so there were English subtitles. I thought I would get the jump of folks at the Toronto Film Festival (where the film is officially premiering) and write my thoughts.
This is the most expensive film ever made in Korea (over $7 million USD), and it shows. Some great looking shots of deserts and northern China. Some great cinematography. Kim Sung-soo said that this was his attempt at doing Peckinpah's Wild Bunch or Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, and you can certainly see the plotting similarities. But Musa definitely does not measure up to such high standards.
First of all, the films is not "realistic" (director Kim said that was his big goal). The good guys here all have great aim and are pretty much unstoppable. Instead of "realistic", I guess he meant "spectacular." Like those aforementioned films or Saving Private Ryan (how the big battles were shot really reminded me of SPR, with the jerky cameras and over-the-top gore). Disappointing when a director does not know the difference between realistic and spectacular.
Secondly, the film is full of all the usual Korean stereotypes -- noble, brooding heroes, a fundamental commitment to 'fairness' and a general childishness. By the end, everyone is running around saying "Koreans and chinese are like brothers"; I was wretching.
Third, the noble, brooding heroes have the habit of suddenly becoming very, very stupid when it comes time to die. Usually, someone is trying to save someone else's life or be more noble, but all they are really doing to acting dumb. "I'll leave the fortress and get some water!" -- you know that character is going to die.
Most strangely, as in all Korean movies, the director is unable to present what he intends to present. If you read the synopsis of the film (which accompanies all movies in Korea), you can really understand the story the director thought he was telling. But if you watch it without the synopsis, often you will miss details or not understand what is going on. I consider this the defining trait of Korean movies; very odd.
Zang Zyiyi does very little in the movie... no great fighting, so I was sad (I love watching her kick ass). She looks great, but does little.
To sum up -- expensive, good-looking film, but a plot that will make your brain ache with dumbness.
--Haisan
