Not a bad film, but not a great one either. THE LEGEND OF THE SHADOWLESS SWORD is a historical romp from South Korea that sees a princess and a warrior travelling through a land inhabited by lots of different people who want to kill them. It's essentially a journey narrative that meanders between moments of lively action and dull, drawn-out sequences of would-be romance and talk. Lots of talk. I wanted to like it, but the lack of vitality makes this a somewhat plodding affair in places.
Films like this seem to be ten a penny these days, and indeed the wushu genre has been alive and kicking in China since the early 1990s. I was looking forward to seeing what a Korean spin on the story would bring to the table, but sadly LEGEND OF THE SHADOWLESS SWORD has little character and style all of its own. In fact, it feels heavily indebted to other productions in places, with half the cast at times made to resemble Johnny Depp in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies.
The good news is that it's not all bad. The action, when it hits, is well handled and explosive, literally so when it comes to the various death scenes; I liked this touch of originality, as it's an example of something we haven't seen before in a film that feels slightly over familiar. In fact, the whole look of the film is great: it's colourful, with bright costumes, fine-looking sets and also some fine-looking women to boot; it seems the producers went out of their way to cast the most beautiful actresses they could find. It's just a shame, then, that's there's no more substance behind what turns out to be a fairly superficial outing.
Films like this seem to be ten a penny these days, and indeed the wushu genre has been alive and kicking in China since the early 1990s. I was looking forward to seeing what a Korean spin on the story would bring to the table, but sadly LEGEND OF THE SHADOWLESS SWORD has little character and style all of its own. In fact, it feels heavily indebted to other productions in places, with half the cast at times made to resemble Johnny Depp in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies.
The good news is that it's not all bad. The action, when it hits, is well handled and explosive, literally so when it comes to the various death scenes; I liked this touch of originality, as it's an example of something we haven't seen before in a film that feels slightly over familiar. In fact, the whole look of the film is great: it's colourful, with bright costumes, fine-looking sets and also some fine-looking women to boot; it seems the producers went out of their way to cast the most beautiful actresses they could find. It's just a shame, then, that's there's no more substance behind what turns out to be a fairly superficial outing.