Arahan

I had a chance to view this film during the NIFFF 2004 (Neuchatel International Fantasy Film Festival) in Switzerland. Far Eastern Films are very popular this days (at least in Europe) and offer a different way of telling stories than the big US-productions. The naive downtown policeman Sang Hwan helps the good and punishes the bad. He is discovered b a martial art master and trained to unleash the powers within him, in order to fight the ultimate evil Heung Un and save the world. This South-Korean film is combining humor, action and special effects a little bit in the tradition of Jackie Chan-films. "Arahan" is based on a Korean cartoon. 3 out of 5 *

When a thief driving a motorcycle steals a purse of a pedestrian, the clumsy, naive and honest rookie policeman Sang-hwan (Seung-beom Ryu) runs after him, but the skilled specialist in martial arts Wi-jin (So-yi Yoon) captures the criminal and Sang-hwan is severely injured. She brings Sang-hwan to her home, where the six Masters of Tao heal him and believe that he has a powerful Qi, the spiritual energy of the universe, and could be a powerful warrior. Sang-hwan begins his training to ascend to a Maruchi, while the evil and ambitious Heuk-woon (Doo-hong Jung) is accidentally released from his imprisonment. The powerful Heuk-woon attacks the masters, searching a key that they protect, which would permit him to become an Arahan and dominate the world. When the masters are defeated, Sang-hwan and Wi-jin are the only hope to mankind.

"Arahan" has great special effects, a nice cast and could be a good action movie. Unfortunately the comedy never works, with the clumsy anti-hero Sang-hwan being a confused not-funny character. Maybe this type of humor works in other cultures, but I did not like it. The developments of the rich characters is weak, and maybe in Asian cultures the concepts of Qi and Tao are clear, but at least for me, I was forced to research about these concepts of the Chinese culture to understand their meanings. But for fans like me of South-Korean movies, "Arahan" is essential. My vote is six.

Title Brazil): "Arahan"

Being of Korean descent and a huge film buff (especially Harry Potter), but having no knowledge of Korean films (which my parents find is a disgrace), my father thought it would be good for me to watch "Arahan". It's set in a modern-time period, but takes martial arts and special effects to a whole new level with characters running down the side of buildings, jumping great distances and even having this power called "jangpung", which is blasting objects out of the way. Normally, I would have called this cheesy, but the director and writers actually made it funny. Now, the main character isn't a typical superhero. He's a deadbeat cop with no self-esteem whatsoever. You follow him as he's recruited by the Seven Masters and trained into shape. He falls in love with one of the Seven Masters, Eui-Jun. An evil spirit takes human form and looks for this legendary sword. It's your typical Asian action movie, but it's also extremely funny and fast-paced. I recommend this movie to fans of Asian action and/or comedy.

There's an awful lot to like in "Arahan," but, then again, there's always something to like in any film that features a bumbling misfit saving the world.

Sang-hwan is a young police officer, and he's not a very good one. Bespectacled and nervous, he's not exactly welcomed with open arms at work. He bumbles his way into one mess and out of another, all despite his good intentions, and he ends up causing himself (and others) more harm than good. When several old masters guarding the key to enlightenment identify a strong ch'i in him that – if properly nourished and trained – could save mankind from a newly awakened evil, Sang-hwan decides to believe in himself and accept his new role as a guardian of society … but not without bumbling headfirst into the responsibility.

"Arahan" opens with a pace and tone that feels far more dark than the script ever delivers, and moments of whimsy aren't as funny as was quite possibly intended. In fact, Sang-hwan's beating at the hands of a street gang is downright violent, completely void of any humor. Thankfully, the uneven pacing of the first half gives way to some welcome surprises in the second, complete with a spectacular showdown to save mankind with frenetic swordfights, great humor, and some spectacular wire-fu.

If anything, "Arahan" takes itself a bit too seriously again in the closing moments of the fisticuffs when too many fight sequences are photographed in brain-friendly slow motion (gee, doesn't this all look pretty and significant?). But that's a small complaint for a film that delivers some impressive action sequences, some inspired special effects, and more than a dozen good belly laughs.

This is the story of the Seven Masters who recruit a bumbling police officer into their group in order when its discovered that he possesses a high level of Chi. The timing is very fortuitous since an ancient enemy has awoken and is once more spreading evil in the world.

I first read about this movie when several on-line reviews said that this was destined to be the next big thing in movies. Later reviews were positive, but were less glowing noting that the film has several parts that don't fully mix together. I'm in the camp with the later reviews since I find the mixture of styles works against the parts.

I should begin with the action. If you want to see great action this is the movie for you. Hand to hand and weapons such as swords are used through out the film to great effect. Sure its done with wires and computers, but it doesn't matter since its so much fun to look at. Very often you watch the madness on screen and go "OH Cool" even though you know how its done. I loved when our hero throws a cup at the villain who catches it on the flat end of his sword, and then sends it spinning back with even more force. Amazing.(You really should try this film for the action if nothing else.) The humor in this film is both knowing and very funny. The opening round-table of the masters discussing the difficulty of training is priceless, especially if you've seen any martial arts movies. There is a nice friendly edge to it, that is mostly right on target. The problem is that our hero is often much to bumbling to be believed, especially after he's been in the training program for a while. The too slapsticky attitude is what really hurts the movie since there is no natural progression, just silliness for silliness sake (The ending for example).

The cast and the characters are great. These are people you can really root for. The villain is also suitably evil.

If you were to take all of the movies parts and look at them separately you'd be amazed at how good they all are. The problem is that when you put the bits together the film doesn't quite work together. As I said the slapstick doesn't hold up all the way through. The film is overly jokey at times, even in serious moments. Its hard to keep a light edge when characters are spewing blood and being run through with swords. It takes a bit of the love for the film away and leaves you with admire and simply like. The film also suffers from a pacing problem with slow period in the middle with the training bookended by a funny beginning and an action packed end.

Still I think you should give the movie a shot especially if you like action movies, especially when they have a humorous side to them. In all probability you're going to be like me and like this movie, but you won't love it.