War Of The Arrows

It took me a while to finally viewing 2011's War Of The Arrows, (stuck in the my list of Netflix forever) but it proved to be a rewarding wait. Written and directed by Kim Han-min and starring Park Hae-il, Kim Mu-yeol, and Moon Chae-won, it's a great Korean period action drama in the tradition of Musa The Warrior. What sets it apart from other martial arts films, is the obvious delving into the world of the ancient Korean archer warriors and the engaging and suspenseful action of characters you actually come to care about. Where it lacks is in investing enough time in the backstory and interaction of the 3 primary characters and their relationship to each other. That certainly would have filled out the story even more on every level, without digressing from the film's nationalistic stance. Irregardless, it's a great film that to it's credit, is not overblown with the sometimes heavy handed trappings of Asian aesthetics that can over saturate and take away from everything else.  Story, character, setting, and action all serve to underline the themes here.