KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

bob the moo Hapless and idealistic young police officer Sang-hwan is pursuing a purse snatcher when he is "helped" by a young woman called Wi-jin. Unbeknownst to Sang, Wi-jin is being trained by the masters ot Tao and has great skills – great skills she accidentally uses on him. When he comes to he is in the company of the masters and decides to train with them and help to be a better officer. As he trains though, the release of the evil Heuk-woon from his underground prison brings a reality to the training that previously had been lost on Sang.I saw this film after a recommendation on LoveFilm and others had said good things about it. Watching it for myself I found a film that has good bits and will appeal to martial arts fans but somehow doesn't really come together. The problem is in the delivery of the story and, to a point, where the story actually goes. At times it appears that this is a Jackie Chan style action comedy, with plenty of bumbling laughs mixed with the action. Then at others it feels like a full-on action film where the focus is on big sequences done without a hint of knowing humour. The again it seems to be a really self-important film about mysticism that takes it entirely seriously. Now, as a fan of cocktails and smoothies, I can get with the idea that things that don't naturally sit together can work great in the right mix – but it has to be the right mix. With Arahan the mix is never right and it feels fractured as if sections of the film were made by different people with different ideas of what the film is all about.As far as individual parts go, there is nothing specifically wrong with anything on its own, even if I personally found the more weighty material to be far too silly to support that tone. This is contributed to by the mix of tones though because it is hard to take the film too seriously when it has characters running vertically down tower blocks and the like. It is a shame because the tone affects the characters and they are uneven as well but the main impact is how much you are able to really enjoy the film. So, you're into the light fun but then suddenly people are dying bloody deaths. Then you get into the seriousness of the mysticism but just as you do then it changes it up again without much connection. The cast do their best with it but most of them are best with the lighter touch and action. Ryu is a likable lead who can "do" geeky as well as he does "muscled-arrogance" later on. Yoon works well with him and she is both pretty and cool, making for another likable lead. The older masters are best when they are allowed to work with the modern twist on their characters but are not so good when the plot makes them get serious and worthy.Overall Arahan is an OK film that has plenty of specific good bits in the comedy and the action sequences – certainly genre fans will like what they find. It is a real shame that the uneven tone breaks it up so much and prevents it really getting a constant flow that the viewer can get into.

elshikh4 It's a very funny cartoonish flick, nearly a good modern fairytale with all the cool Kung-Fu and the dexterous special effects, but this movie could, inadvertently, raise the predicament of the genre's holiness !Look at it, from the start it's nothing but the action comedy that close to visual farce, with all the lovely elements of fantasy. THEN suddenly, at the third act, it's the bloody violent action ! Where almost all of the nice characters of the old minters got killed, the last one got tortured, and a long sequence of one last, very serious and too rough, battle !! Is it a sin?, is it the way we used to watch? Is it a no no when it comes to renewal the genre a bit? Actually when they had done it in a way made the taste strange to weaken the movie as well as disturb its own condition, then something really is wrong. We've learned that mostly there is no killing at the comedy, so how about THIS comedy in particular which was apparently too light to be dark ! You'd sense oddity like being with unstable personality ! Moreover after being straight harsh at the climax, it returns at the anticlimax - irritatingly I think - to be that smiling childish venture again ?!!Just compare the beautiful intro scene (which's great and promising), or the droll sequence of training the hero, with all the body count, or the HEEE and HOOO of the end's fight to catch on that there was something unusual about it ..Or correctly badly unusual ! (Arahan) proves how the Korean cinema gets a lot of great potentials (wonderful action, big production, advanced technique, clever imagination..). But (Arahan) also suffers from being comic fantasy that skewed a little for tenebrous mood and drastic nastiness. As the script sorrowfully manipulated the whole thing not to shake the genre up !, but to make a statement about the capability of creating a strong action, yet inharmoniously.It was 2 unfinished movies, undoubtedly well-made, but you'd feel uneasy as the sweet becomes sour at times, and you'd be unsatisfying as none of the 2 was totally complete.

chrichtonsworld Arahan is an action/fantasy with a lot of humour. There is a lot of enjoyable martial arts with use of wire works and CGI. The theme concerning the main character who has great power but is not aware of it reminded me of Kungfu Hustle. Like in that movie the main character possesses great power that has to be unleashed. It is always fun to see someone train and watch someone get stronger and more skilled. Personally I can't get enough of these kind of stories. Especially when they are fun and provide a lot of eye candy. Even when this movie is meant to make you laugh it can be very serious at times. The balance between laughter and drama is great. It never gets too much. I enjoyed this film from start till finish. One of the better action comedies.

AwesomeWolf With a tag line of "Urban Martial Arts Mayhem", and featuring a villain that comes pretty close to being an evil Korean Jesus, how can 'Arahan' not be awesome? It may not be quite as awesome as the trailer made out, but it still manages to be pretty cool.Sang-Hwan is in a fix. He is a rather ineffective police officer who seems to go out of his way to get beaten up. The Seven Masters (of which there actually five) are in a fix. The kids don't believe in the Tao anymore, and the ability to levitate seems only useful in changing light bulbs. After Sang-Hwan ends on the receiving end of a palm-blast from Eui-Jin, she takes Sang-Hwan back to the Seven Masters (of which there are actually five) where they discover his un-tapped chi-potential. The Masters want to train Eui-Jin and Sang-Hwan as replacement Masters, and Sang-Hwan just wants to learn how to perform a palm chi-blast. However, Evil Korean Jesus has been accidentally released from his prison, and now seeks (among other things) revenge against the Seven Masters, and world domination. Ambitious.If I could one major fault with 'Arahan', it is that the movie takes itself too seriously at times. On the other hand, 'Volcano High', despite being presented in a serious way, was non-stop fun. 'Arahan' sometimes drags on, giving away few laughs, but then makes up for it with scenes of awesomeness.Complaints aside, it was generally a funny movie, with some nice visual effects and some pretty cool fantasy fight scenes. 'Arahan' is an enjoyable action / comedy - 7/10