This film is one I tuned into quite by random, clicking on the suggestions that Netflix provides (and which are usually quite inaccurate). Luckily, this one proved to be worth my time. War of the Arrows is a Korean film, set during the historical period of the second Manchurian invasion of Korea. The basic set-up revolves around a boy and his sister whose father is declared a traitor and killed, forcing them to run and hide with a friend of the family.
This is just the intro, however, and most of the film involves the grown pair of siblings, the brother Nam-Yi (Hae-il Park) and his sister Ja-In (Moon Chae-Won). The other main character is the adoptive brother of the pair, Kim Min-soon (Seung-yong Ryoo). There are also a few generic buddies that come along for the ride and provide some combat support and a bit of comedy relief.
So here come the Manchurians, invading the village, killing, raping, looting and generally causing havoc. They end up taking Ja-In captive and dragging her away along with most of the village (the ones they don’t kill). Only Nam-Yi is left, having been out doing something else in the woods at the time. It’s up to this hero and master archer to find his sister and brother and rescue them from the bad guys.
The film has great pacing for the majority of the time, balancing action and plot development well. There is little in the way of actual character development, but the actors are charismatic enough to make you like them regardless. As the movie progresses, however, the action tends to take over. The last 30 minutes is basically one long chase sequence with archers launching arrows at each other along the way.
The best thing about the movie is all the archery. Arrow shoot-outs are just cool, I don’t care who you are. They cinematography is brilliant during these scenes, creating tension build-up and making the fights seem plausible at the same time. Both heroes and villains have great moments and moments of epic fail. Definitely not the typical actiony crap that you might find in a hundred other shoot-out themed films.
There are a few little flaws, but the majority of the film is great. It’s basically a folktale-type Robin Hood or Braveheart, but done up in Korean fashion. Well worth a watch for anyone that enjoys quality action.