Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

forlornnesssickness Its simple story is unfolded in Korea of the 17th century, the mid- period of the Chosun Dynasty. In 1623, Kwanghaegun was dethroned by the Injo revolt and immediately replaced by his cousin King Injo. Young Nam- i's father, a military officer, was killed being labeled as a traitor, and, as ordered by his father before his death, Nam-i managed to escape with his younger sister at the last minute. They went to their father's friend living outside the capital, who took a great risk by raising them as the part of his household while hiding their identities.13 years have passed. Both Nam-i(Park Hae-il) and Ja-in(Moon Chae-won) are now grown-ups. Although still protected well, Nam-i has virtually no future except enjoying the hunt with his servants or polishing his archery skills, for it is impossible for him to enter the government due to his background. Meanwhile, Ja-in is happily going to marry Seo Goon(Kim Moo-yeol), the only son of their protector who has liked her since they were young, and Nam-i is happy for his sister.However, in the middle of their wedding, the vast army of Qing suddenly invades their town. Unlike King Kwanghae-gun, King Injo made an unwise diplomatic choice of disregarding the rising power of the Qing Dynasty which would soon replace the Ming Dynasty in China. He paid a hefty price for underestimating Qing; he had to personally surrender to the Emperor in legendary humiliation while many of his people were taken to Qing as the prisoners/hostages. Ja-in and her groom are among them, and it is Nam-i's mission to rescue them from the Qing army and take them back to their country. He is willing to eliminate anyone standing on his way with his bow, but it won't be easy. While he is mostly alone, there is the elite force led by the Qing general Jyu Sinta(Ryoo Seung-yong), who notices Nam-i's uncanny talent right from their first encounter and recognizes him as a worthy opponent to him and his men.The film relatively lags while establishing the characters and their situations during the first half, but, once everything is set and ready, it kicks into high gear to the full speed. You may find the use of shaky cam in period drama distracting, but it is right approach because it is necessary for the characters to move fast and think fast like Jason Bourne for their survival and win. While rarely losing the sense of the direction, the movie is filled with energy to tighten our attention to what is going on the screen. Being real is always important for this kind of action movies, and the director Kim Han-min and his crews do deserve the praise for their accomplishment. You can see the people in the movie are really running in the mountain forests, or, in one gripping scene, jumping over the cliff to reach to the other side across a ravine.And I was very amused by how the arrows were used in the film. The arrows are more flexible than bullets, so some seemingly impossible trajectories are possible at least in the movie. While I believe the arrows on the screen are CGIs in many cases like the bullets in "Wanted"(2008), these arrows look real and destructive, and they are not shot mindlessly. The characters usually shoot their arrows based on quick calculations and their instincts – that makes the confrontations between them look like a deadly chess game between the expert snipers with rifles.The characterization is broad, but the performers have strong presence to pull us into the plot. Although it is the national conflict at first, the story ultimately becomes the personal conflict between the characters determined to stop each other with their all hearts and brains, and we become involved in it. Park Hae-il is a believable action movie hero of the 17th century; you can sense he will even descend to the bottom of hell to save his sister and his friend. Moon Chae-won is also good as the bride who is as resourceful as her groom. In the action movies made in these days, the female characters no longer stand back from guys' actions, and Ja-in does not disappoint us with her quiet but defiant attitude to her enemies.The villain is always one of the crucial factors determining the success of the action movies, and Ryoo Seung-yong, who was impressive as the leader of North Korean military unit in recent South Korean movie "The Front Line"(2011), gives a forceful performance with his penetrating eyes and steely will behind them. He and other non-Chinese actors are pretty much believable with their Manchurian dialogues at least in my view(Machurian has been almost a dead language since the Qing Dynasty engulfed China and then assimilated itself into the Han Chinese culture, so few will find faults in the movie). I find it interesting how the movie allows them to have some human sides. They are not vicious monsters, and they have an understandable reason for being a lot furious about Nam-i and others who meddle with their business. Though they are quite determined to kill our hero, you may feel a little sorry for them.Sidenote: As some South Korean critic pointed out, there is a major historical error in the movie with Qing prince Dorgon, who is depicted as the character more or less than a petty bad guy. Unlike his fictional counterpart, he lived longer and did lots of thing to solidify the Qing Dynasty as the regent prince. That does not spoil the entertainment, but I think it is not bad to know about such a historical fact before watching the movie.

Ryan Sullivan Like many movies in this genre this movie explodes with beautiful cinematography, CGI and flightwire is minimal and the archery battle scenes are very intense. The emotional struggle of the characters in this movie is clearly felt through the acting.Admittedly the movie starts out a bit slow but picks up quickly as the plot unfolds, from that point the action barely slows down as our archer strategically picks off target after target with his arrows. The story does include some clichés but overall I have to give this one a solid rating. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who love Martial Arts/Asian Films.

dixxjamm This practically blows a lot of the Hollywood historical action flicks of the last 20 years out of the water, Robin Hood and Apocalypto certainly come to mind. If this trend continues, we may turn to Asian productions if we want celluloid action in the future. They managed to get passed the star-hero martial artists action vehicles like Jet Li and Jackie Chan (which were, with few exceptions, unwatchable) and chose to emphasize simplicity and heart, rather than star-power. And it works. Too bad about some cheesiness and clichés which they don't seem to be able to shake off and the fact that the humor element is...well...Asian (I don't identify with it) because it really exceeds most HW action flicks. Not to mention that it probably costs much less to make one of these. Probably Rusell Crowe's and Bruce Willis' fees for one of their blockbusters would cover it....

Gambitt War of the Arrows is a somewhat mediocre entry into the swollen ranks of Asian action-adventure war epics. In Arrows, a disgraced Korean archer must rescue his sister and brother in law from ruthless invaders from the North. The odds are ugly, and he may have to go Braveheart to prevail.Arrows is entertaining, but shamelessly cliché, never bothering to try to explain or apologize for its over the top melodrama. For example, early on in the movie, Manchurian raiders burst in and begin slaughtering villagers left and right. And yet throughout the prolonged attack, most townsfolk are shown still engaged in their day to day business apparently oblivious to the massive army of horsemen stampeding through their town until the very moment they get chopped down. Even the main characters at a wedding, who are depicted as perceiving the attack relatively early on, are still standing around like Christmas trees by the time the enemies actually reach them.And the battles, at least in the first half, are laughably one sided. During the village ambush, the raiders trample every single feeble Korean warrior in their path. The casualties appear to pile up at about a 20 to 1 ratio. Yet later, during an insurrection, those same pathetic Koreans (now unarmed and in a weakened state) are apparently invincible while the Manchurians drop like stormtroopers.The arrow duels are entertaining (but still not all that original). The skirmishes have the feel of a John Woo gun fight. I almost expected the characters to stand off at four feet, each gripping a loaded bow in either hand.One thing I did particularly like was the costume design. In particular, the elite squad of Manchurian death hounds looked fantastic. They appeared to be a mash-up of shao-lin, samurai, ninja, archers-- somehow it all worked and ended up being one of the more memorable aspects of the film.