Arahan jangpung daejakjeon (2004)

Director:

Seung-wan Ryoo

Writers:

Ji-hie Eun (writer)
Seung-wan Ryoo (writer)

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (South Korea)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Plot:

When a thief driving a motorcycle steals a purse of a pedestrian, the clumsy, naive and honest rookie policeman Sang-hwan runs after him...

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Martial Arts Spoof | Chi | Gumdo

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Seung-beom Ryu	...	Sang-hwan
So-yi Yoon	...	Wi-jin
Sung-kee Ahn	...	Ja-woon
Doo-hong Jung	...	Heuk-woon
Ju-sang Yun	...	Mu-woon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ming Jeng Chew	...	Himself
Yang Ik-Joon

Also Known As:

Arahan (UK) (new title)
Arahan jangpung daejakjeon (Australia) (DVD title)
Urban Martial Arts Action (International: English title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Spain:13 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | UK:15 | Germany:16 | Philippines:PG-13

Company:

Fun and Happiness

A modern martial arts fantasy comedy with a mediocre core, but energetic execution

Arahan is the third feature by Corean action-boy Ryu Seungwan and in this picture he takes on the fantasy martial arts genre, but instead of doing the traditional genre piece, he sets it in the present and throws his sense of comedy in the mix as well. Arahan was one of Ryu's more commercially successful films and of all his films, it's the most "blockbuster", featuring plenty of kinetic, but fantastic fights. All the same, what we witness is a typical main storyline for the genre, saved by good direction and witty writing.

The story is fairly cliché and can be linked to a dozen "chosen one" martial arts stories, like that of Kung Fu Hustle or any number of older martial arts movies and comic books. It's the details that make it stand out. In modern Seoul, a rookie cop runs into a confrontation between a purse-snatcher and a convenience store clerk, who unleashes a "palm blast", missing the crook and nailing the cop. He wakes to discover that a handful of Tao masters think that he's a "chosen one". Twist is that he'll have none of it, being that "chi powers" are just a matter of fantasy. Things change as he encounters physical confrontation with some street thugs and is beaten soundly. In the meantime, an ancient evil awakens and you can pretty much see where the story's going to go.

With a fairly plain story, the interesting part of Arahan is the context and the humor. I found that the modern setting confers an interesting visual palette for this genre, but it mostly lends itself to comedy, from some modern humorous implications of powers, to bumbling masters trying to increase their student base. And while the film isn't laugh out loud, its sense of humor is immediately apparent and doesn't jar at all, providing welcome breaks from an otherwise unimpressive story. Also keeping the film from pointlessness is that it's pretty visually impressive with fight scenes that are long but don't become interesting and the direction is pretty kinetic, but that can be expected from a director whose previous works are known for action.

One of the films best features is its lead actor and the director's brother, Ryu Seungbum, who has both a strong charismatic presence, and great comedic timing. He is certainly a standout in most of the films I've seen him in. The cast is rounded out pretty well by some veterans, providing some great straight-faced comedy. The female lead and the villain, however, are a little stiff, or perhaps their parts just didn't leave much to work with. Technically, the film has good production values and while the CGI can be a little obvious at times, I didn't find it overly distracting.

So, Arahan is a rather mediocre story that you've heard over and over again (if you watch films in the related genres). In the story aspect, it's rather uninspiring, but terms of how it's told, it's pretty entertaining. As such, it's like eating confections, it's tasty, but it's all empty calories. Ultimately, it actually fulfills the stereotypical role of the blockbuster that it appears to aspire to and for that, I can't hate it. I admit that during the critical points, I felt my body quaking in anticipation, but in no way is this a masterpiece. Just entertaining fluff and you could definitely find worse fluff to watch. At least it's not pretentious about what it's trying to be. 7/10.