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 *

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.

With a tag line of "Urban Martial Arts Mayhem", and featuring a villain that comes pretty close to being an evil Korean Jesus, how can 'Arahan' not be awesome? It may not be quite as awesome as the trailer made out, but it still manages to be pretty cool.

Sang-Hwan is in a fix. He is a rather ineffective police officer who seems to go out of his way to get beaten up. The Seven Masters (of which there actually five) are in a fix. The kids don't believe in the Tao anymore, and the ability to levitate seems only useful in changing light bulbs. After Sang-Hwan ends on the receiving end of a palm-blast from Eui-Jin, she takes Sang-Hwan back to the Seven Masters (of which there are actually five) where they discover his un-tapped chi-potential. The Masters want to train Eui-Jin and Sang-Hwan as replacement Masters, and Sang-Hwan just wants to learn how to perform a palm chi-blast. However, Evil Korean Jesus has been accidentally released from his prison, and now seeks (among other things) revenge against the Seven Masters, and world domination. Ambitious.

If I could one major fault with 'Arahan', it is that the movie takes itself too seriously at times. On the other hand, 'Volcano High', despite being presented in a serious way, was non-stop fun. 'Arahan' sometimes drags on, giving away few laughs, but then makes up for it with scenes of awesomeness.

Complaints aside, it was generally a funny movie, with some nice visual effects and some pretty cool fantasy fight scenes. 'Arahan' is an enjoyable action / comedy - 7/10

In the tradition of the latest good martial arts movies coming from Korea, this one really doesn't disappoint. The plot centers around an ancient secret weapon based on Chi guarded since ancient times by a secret society... The man character is an honest, pacifist, almost inept and at times strange, policeman not aware of his unknown strengh who seeks to learn fighting for revenge. There is a lot of CG in the movie but contrary to many Hollywood (and non-Hollywood) movies, the CG blends very well with the rest of this fantasy movie and add to the stunning visual appeal of the film. The movie has some very funny and surprising scenes, and many action-packed sequences. The fights are very well choreographed. I would give three thumbs up if I could...

I ain't no fan of chop-socky Asian martial arts movies. You could run off a list of any of the 1000 films Jet Li made before going to America and I'd say, 'Um...Kiss of the Dragon?' So, that's how bad my knowledge and devotion is. It was surprising therefore to discover that Arahan is actually a very funny and very exciting movie that zips along loud, fast and funny.

Sang-Hwan is a lowly beat cop. He's clumsy, accident prone and bumbles more than the average bee. He doesn't believe he has any special powers, but when he makes friends with a group of five old masters, they recognise his potential and recruits him to help preserve the balance of the world from evil...or something. Which is great timing, because an ancient bad guy has come out of a long, long hibernation to seek the key to the ultimate nirvana and spread order over the whole world...or something.

Yes, it's gobbledygook. In fact, it's alarmingly similar to Bulletproof Monk, only not total crap. There are loads of laughs to be had. Arahan has a great sense of comic timing and the ability to jump from silly gags to serious action in just a few seconds.

When it comes to plain old hands-and-feet fighting, Hollywood movies seem to be lacking of late. It's all CGI and spandex. Eye candy it may be, but it's good to see something filled with practical fighting effects, despite the final showdown going on a bit.

The one bad thing that costs it half a star is the nasty Eighties synthesised score. Doesn't Korea have anything better than those shoddy Yamaha keyboards that I used in music class in high school? Hell, I could do better myself.

You can criticise the film for being mindless - hey, just because it's subtitled doesn't mean it's artsy fartsy - but for two hours of fun, Arahan will do nicely.