I went into this film with a little trepidation, as the last historically based South Korean film I'd seen, "The Fatal Encounter" had briefly put me to sleep. While the first half of "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" drags at times, it is anchored by a very strong leading performance from Choi Min-sik, and serves as the setup for one of the best naval battle sequences I've ever seen.
The film is set in 1597 and Choi plays Korean Admiral Yi Sun-Shin, who had been falsely accused of being a traitor and only recently cleared and reinstated to his position following torture. He finds himself with only 13 ships at his command, facing an invading Japanese fleet of hundreds. The first half of the film establishes the characters (both on the Korean and Japanese sides) and sets up the dire stakes Korea is facing--Yi has been ordered to disband the navy and join up with the army, but knows that this would give the Japanese an easy route to the Korean capital. He is determined to stand and fight, and must deal with those in whose own ranks who disagree and will go so far as to sabotage his chances.
Choi's performance demonstrates his extensive range as an actor. In both "Oldboy" (where he was fantastic in a great movie) and "Lucy" (where he was the rare bright spot in an otherwise disappointing movie), Choi was frequently given license to chew the scenery. Several scenes required him to be shouting, whether out of terror, anger, or desperation. For much of this film, his face droops and his shoulders slump in a way I'd rarely seen before. He speaks softly, and the weight of command that lays on his character's shoulders is palpable from the first second he appears on screen. For a film much more grounded in reality than either "Oldboy" or "Lucy", this subtle acting approach works wonders. It also makes it far more powerful when, after experiencing a major setback, he does break down. It's an earned moment, sharply contrasting with what had come before.
At times the film reminded me of the Old Hollywood Epics, albeit with more violence. The blaring music that accompanied the first appearance of an especially imposing Japanese regiment would have been right at home when the Roman Legions showed up in "Spartacus". There's also a decent amount of time spent establishing some minor characters, each with their own small story to tell. This is where the film lost a little of its steam. Some of these moments felt shoehorned into the story, and their payoffs during the second half were often the most melodramatic, clichéd moments in the film.
Aside from those few brief moments, however, the second half of the film is absolutely fantastic. It features a very lengthy (but never dull) naval battle between Admiral Yi's 13 ships, and the Japanese Armada, where Yi is forced to pull out every trick he knows in a desperate gambit to turn the invading fleet back. One of those tricks involves not even using 12 of his ships for a significant chunk of the battle, so for a long while, it's actually a battle between one ship and the entire Japanese force. The tide of the battle shifts back and forth several times. Each time, defeat and death for Yi are imminent, but he tries one more risky, yet clever ploy to buy himself some more time. At one point, his ship is being boarded on three sides, but he still manages to repel the boarders (using a daring tactic I won't reveal here) and prepare to face the next wave of attackers.
Even though many of the ships and effects in the battle are computer generated, the film still remains firmly grounded in reality. That's part of what keeps things so exciting. If it had gone too over the top, it would have been easy to mentally check out and just enjoy the eye candy the battle had to offer. Instead, the film keeps you invested in Admiral Yi's desperate struggle that he has been fighting through for the entire film. Choi's performance kept this struggle interesting in the first half, and once his "fight" becomes literal, the action is given intensity and layers of meaning that a pure "action film" would not have had.
The few moments in the first half where the film dragged, and the even fewer moments of melodrama during the battle can be easily forgiven. The stunning naval battle sequence that serves as the film's raison d'être makes it a standout.
A-
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