War of the Arrows Review

War of the Arrows

South Korea has exploded into the film industry for many years now, releasing entertaining movies in a number of genres. What I enjoy most is the stories that tell about the history of Korea, especially in the timelines when the area of Korea was still independent kingdoms. When a movie is released based on ancient history I get intrigued. I don’t know why, but I sometimes wonder if I lived during ancient times, not necessarily Korea, but in that time period if you believe in that kind stuff. I’m not sure If I do or not, but it makes me wonder why I am fascinated by ancient history, which brings us to the movie I would like to introduce, a South Korean movie called ‘War of the Arrows.

The story is about Nam-yi played by Hae-il Park, who was the son of a skilled archer and officer of King Gwanghae, who died protecting his two children so they can escape. After several years later, Nam-yi grows up to be a skilled archer like his father. While hunting, Nam-yi realizes the village was being invaded during the time of his sister’s wedding. He rushes back, but finds out his sister Ja-In played by Chae-won Moon was taken by the Qing army, placing him on a path of danger and self-sacrifice to save his sister, while garnering the attention of the Qing commander known for his legendary archery skills.

One thing I enjoyed about this movie was the action scenes. Ninety-nine percent of the time, movies during these times periods focus a lot on action scenes using swordplay, this one does not. What it does focus on is the action scenes using archer skills, which was truly unique and entertaining to watch. To get an idea what the actions would be like, think of all the Robin Hood movies, minus the sword play and add all the archery combat scenes together, while thinking of other ways to use it besides being a range weapon. That’s what this movie does; it presents a cool look on how one would survive using archery with breath-taking cinematography to present the feeling of what an archery combat would be visually like.

Nam-yi played by Hae-il Park, performed very well, delivering great action moments, and what little lines he had, he displayed it with his physical performance winning Best Actor. Ja-In played by Chae-won Moon had an excellent performance, delivering an innocent and helpless sister that won her Best New Actress at the 48th Grand Bell Awards.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. I was very entertained by the cinematography with the action scenes. Although, the story wasn’t anything new, it wasn’t bad either for the acting was enjoyable even for a subtitled movie, which at times can be a distraction. This movie is available on Netflix; check it out if you don’t mind foreign movies and subtitles.
I give War of the Arrows 3 out of 4 smiles. Worth Seeing!