The Divine Fury

It is good but I have seen better exorcist-type movie. Particularly like the conversation between Park and Father Ahn. Fighting scenes were great, tension building was good. Overall a good Friday movie if you are looking for something scary to watch.

After losing his father as a child, a champion boxer finds that he has been afflicted with stigmata and begins traveling with a Vatican-sanctioned priest performing exorcisms in South Korea looking for a Satanic cult leader, and when he finds the man is responsible for the death of his father team up to cast out his evil.

There was a lot to like with this one. Among the better aspects on display is the fact that this one offers plenty of intriguing aspects to the religious undertones found within the storyline. The fact that the story is transposed to South Korea with all the usual trappings found in supernatural and exorcism stories with plenty of focus on his stigmata is a wholly impressive feat, giving this a recognizable and familiar grounding that is to be expected in such a situation. The various connections made to regular religious practices, including the priests who are shown performing the usual Christian rituals and exorcism practices as well as the Satanic interactions occurring under the nightclub operating as a front for the cult. That also leads into their conversations about his faith growing up and how he's waned over time which comes into play with the stigmata he has that allows for some rather intriguing philosophical debates about their religion that gives the film some extra weight. The other strong aspect to like here is the film's fun supernatural horror aspects. Starting with the dream sequence of seeing the religious ceremony that allows him to become possessed by the burning cross in his hand, the onslaught of possession tactics displayed here manage to give this some fun elements. The scenes of the shadows coming to life and toying with him are quite fun, as is the fiery exorcism attempt in the church where they attempt to exorcism the victim but eventually have to use his spiritual powers to finally cleanse the spirit. That there's a series of other exorcism attempts they perform in the community trying to track down the leader of the Satanic cult is where this one really works the best, offering up engaging battle tactics, impressive special effects and plenty of action in the battle to finally stop it leading up to the final fight as there's a lot of fun methods on both sides to get the upper hand in the brutal, emotional battle. Overall, these here are what hold this one up as the film does have a few big problems. The main one is the usual issue associated with these films in that there's no reason for this one to be as long as it. The love affair with adding over-the-top melodrama into everything here, from the overbearing intro that gives us far too much backstory than it really needs as it can tell this story in much sharper manners without going so heavily into these dramatic tendencies. This also causes a large issue with the film focused much more on their relationship and his journey back to the light of his faith that the main villain is incredibly underwhelming and not at all that scary, with no build-up at all in his motivations or purpose or what his plan actually is with all the possession attempts and cult practices are really for. That causes for a severe drop-off in the tension of the final battle where it's just another demon possession to overcome instead of the culmination of their journey, but this isn't a detrimental issue and only brings it down slightly overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

I am amazed watching this movie on a Catholic point of view. It did not fail to convey its deepest message to the viewers. It did not just entertain the viewers. It somehow inspires the viewers about the Power of good over evil. God's victory over His adversary, the devil. The storyline and the acting were crafted very well. The characters of the story stood out. The horror aspect about this movie is in the story not the exagerated sound effects like other movies that tends to make the viewers jump on their feet. It is both an epic spiritual warfare and a physical battle between good and wvil that intensifies more the entertainment and captures the heart of the viewers. I totally enjoyed it.

Here's the Lowedown on "Divine Fury" (NR - 2019 - Blu)

Genre: Horror/Paranormal/Martial My Score: 6.9

Cast=4 Acting=8 Plot=7 Ending=9 Story=6 Scare=4 Jump=4 F/X=9 Creep=10 Fights=8

After his father's death, a man turns from his faith and becomes an MMA fighter. When a stigmata appears on his hand, he seeks the help of a priest only to get caught up in a fight he never anticipated.

"When my father died...God did nothing." This Korean film was a lot of fun. Not particularly scary, but good fight and exorcism scenes made for a solid watch. It was like taking 'Constantine' and throwing in some Mortal Kombat for good measure. Ultimately, I think it was trying a bit too hard to be a good possession movie and a good martial arts movie...but they came close to making it work.

It's a promising movie to watch where there are no major faults in story plot or acting or cinematography. You are kept hooked always by Interesting elements throughout, making the long run-time of 129 minutes easily passed by unnoticed.

Great charisma and chemistry displayed by the two main actors, Ahn Sung Ki and Park Seo Joon. The big generation gap was well handled and they made a believable team to root for. Really impressed by the funny and warm moments between the Heroes in face of a serious battle against Evil.

Visually appealing overall whereby certain scenes made good impressions but unfortunately, not memorable enough to leave a lasting impact.

If I am to point out any major minus, it would be on lack of narrative of the Villain. Though Woo Do Hwan managed to portray a very sinister and powerful Big Bad character through his acting, his agenda (plot design) is simply not insidious enough to intimidate the audience. This is made worse by how little the interaction time between Villain and the Heroes. In my opinion, if the plot focus more on friction between the two sides instead of the Villain solo act of evil deeds, the result would have been different, a lot!

Summary in one word would be "Harmonious". With some minor adjustments, it could have been "Awesome". Thus, I give an additional star for Effort (it should have been 8/10) as I look forward to its sequel.