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He grunts. He screams. Then he screams again.

Kento Yamazaki overacts and over emotes in every scene, specially in the first half. To show grief, anger, surprise or any other emotion, he has only one register: He screams loudly. And he grimaces. He hams it up. He acts unintelligent but determined, a gritty stubborn brainless dolt. His dialogue is also childish, culminating with the cliched speech about the power of dreams during his last major fight scene. Would you ramble on about the power of dreams when fighting a mortal adversary?

He fast becomes very annoying. And since he's the central character, he ruins the movie for me.

It is too bad, because there is a lot to like in this movie. Great fight scenes, great choreography, impressive settings, hundreds of soldiers, interesting adversaries with original looks and fighting techniques. Some very good second role actors, specially Masami Nagasawa and Takao Osawa. The director, Shinsuke Sato, has become know for his manga adaptations, and this movie is a specially faithful adaptation of the first part of Yasuhisa Hara's manga. If it wasn't for the poor dialogue and overacting, this would be a very fun Wuxia movie.

Because of these fun elements, I hesitated a lot before knocking my rating down . Then came the last scenes, glorifying the forceful unification of China (in this age of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Yughur troubles). These scenes were completely unnecessary, and probably placed in the movie to support a larger Box Office performance in China.

Not recommended.

Imagine a movie that tells how an alphabet was invented. Very little drama, no real conflict, many scenes showing how the sounds were turned into letters. Fascinating and beautiful, but definitely not for those seeking action.

The acting is excellent throughout. Kang-ho Song in one of his quietest most introspective roles. Hae-il Park as the impetuous monk, and specially Mi-seon Jeon as the queen, who dominates every scene she appears in and leaves a strong influence on the film even when she is absent. This was her last role, before her death, and the movie can be seen as a tribute to this great actress too.

There are many fascinating scenes, in particular those showing the creation of the new script. The cinematography is excellent, the scenery beautiful and the director keeps things interesting, despite the lack of a strong story. Still, it gets long at the end, as there is very little tension and despite a few courtly conflicts, very little drama. The movie is also too respectful of the king's figure, at the end it gets a bit long and the scenes a little repetitive.

I may have missed a few details, as i don't speak and cannot read Korean. Some jokes and many references probably eluded me. Still, it's an interesting and sometimes fascinating movie for those who do not mind the lack of action. A good change of pace from the fight-filled historical typically produced in Seaoul.

A very big disappointment for the director and lead actress after the very enjoyable "Let me eat your pancreas" and "My little Monster" . While these previous movies were delicate, emotional and very well acted, Sensei Kunshu is empty and grating. Hamabe Minami overreacts and overemotes to every situation, as if she was instructed to mime the cartoonish poses of manga characters. After a while, her bad acting really gets on the viewer's nerve. The romance does not go anywhere (as one would expect with a teacher-pupil crush), the comedy falls flat. I struggled to finish watching this film and finally stopped before the end. Not recommended.