Review: The Pirates

175. The Pirates
The third South Korean period film I'd seen in just over two weeks, "The Pirates" was a lot like the typical action-adventure release, trying to mix a little drama with heavy doses of comedy and a lot of action, some of it reveling in its over the top nature. It mostly succeeds, providing an entertaining time in spite of a slightly bloated length, and managing to fit a few memorable moments into its fun but mostly forgettable story.

I'm not going to try too hard to explain the film's plot, as it's actually quite complex, with a large cast of characters whose allegiances to one another shift with some regularity. To sum it up: when a royal seal (a stamp, not the pet of a king) is lost at sea, swallowed by a whale, several groups set out to hunt the whale and retrieve the seal. Of greatest prominence are a group of pirates (duh) and a group of bandits.

There are some decent action sequences thrown into the film. The most interesting is a chase sequence that really called to mind typical American action-adventure fare. It embraced its own silly nature. A path of destruction and explosions were left in the wake of the chase. One character caught up to the others by sliding along in a water chute as it fell apart just behind her. It was a fun scene. Another scene, featuring the bandits trying to steal a ship from the docks (while setting fire to the other ships to avoid pursuit) was also a standout. The remaining action bits, mostly consisting of naval combat, were well done, but paled in comparison to the action in both "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" and "Kundo: Age of the Rampant".

Some of the film's best moments came courtesy of the character Chul-Bong (Yu Hae-Jin). He's the comic relief character, starting out as part of the pirate crew, but soon leaving and joining up with the bandits. He's a buffoon, always making a mess of the situation, whether it's an attempted raid on a convoy, or just his own misguided efforts to talk himself up. He gets to show off a bit of smarts, however, once the bandits decide to go out to sea. Some of the funniest scenes are of him trying to explain to the other bandits how big a whale really is when they set out in little more than a rowboat. His words of knowledge go unheard over the din of the others' excitement when they spot a shark and are certain it's the whale they seek. When they finally do see a whale, poor Chul-Bong is attacked for not trying hard enough to warn them about its size.

Overall, "The Pirates" has little new to offer. Without the comedic moments, it probably would have fallen flat, but they managed to keep things entertaining. It's a fun movie, probably made a little better to me than it deserves to be because of the foreign flavor.

B-