[HanCinema's Film Review] "Hansan: Rising Dragon"

In 2013, while producing "The Admiral: Roaring Currents", Big Stone Pictures revealed their plans to produce two more films related to Yi Sun-sin, titled "Emergence of Hansan Dragon" and "Noryang: Deadly Sea" as sequels, depending on the success of "The Admiral: Roaring Currents". Following the box office success of the latter, which became the most-watched and highest-grossing film of all time in South Korea, production of the sequels was confirmed. Eight years later, we now have "Hansan: Rising Dragon" released with similar success, as in its first 5 days of screening, it has already become the 3rd biggest box office success in Korea for 2022.

Advertisement

The story takes place in 1592, five years before the events of "The Admiral: Roaring Currents", when Wakisaka and the invading Japanese forces have driven the Korean army from the capital into retreat, with their higher ups already dreaming of their next campaign, towards Ming China this time. The only one who has managed to fend off their forces is admiral Yi, essentially preventing total defeat by himself, although not without paying the price, as he was wounded by a bullet during his last battle. The rest of the first part deals mostly with the way the two strategists are trying to realize each other's tactics, while keeping their own, a secret. This approach revolves around the Turtle ship, which has proved pivotal in favor of the Koreans, with Yi trying to keep its construction hidden and Wakisaka employing his spies, under the guise of priesthood, of stealing the plans. At the same time, both men face intense internal feuds from their political associates, while Yi has also sent his own spies to the Japanese court. The second part of the movie is essentially a series of naval battles, with the intricacy of the stratagems of the two men coming to the fore in the most impressive way.

Two things become evident from the beginning of the movie. The first one is that the budget of "Hansan: Rising Dragon" was huge and it was implemented in the best way in the audiovisual aspect of the movie. The filming of the naval battles was done with the use of VFX this time, instead of filmed on boats floating on the sea, but the results is no less impressive, with the 40+ minutes of the final battle being a true wonder to look at, even if the awed looks of the soldiers is uses a bit too much. The prowess however does not stop there, with the presentation of the two opposite bases being astonishing, with DP Kim Tae-sung-I capturing exceptionally the two settings, where the work done in production design, lighting, costumes, hairstyle is of the highest level. The result is a series of images that will definitely stay in mind, both in the calm and the action scenes that take place.

The second one is that, although the cast is quite impressive and the actors do a rather well job, with Park Hae-il as Yi, Byun Yo-han as Wakisaka and Ahn Sung-ki as Eo Yeong-dam, a general under Yi, being the ones stand out, the absence of Choi Min-sik is painfully evident, in a movie whose approach would definitely benefit from his star quality. Apart from this issue, there is also another crucial one, with the number of people and episodes included in the 129 minutes of the movie being extravagant, to the point that it is difficult to follow what is happening to whom after a point, at least with the exception of the main protagonists.

The focus here, however, is definitely on the final battle, and in that regard, Kim Han-min's work definitely compensates for any previous fault, with the way the two opposing strategies unfold, with the upper hand changing a number of times until, essentially, the very last minute and the way the ships and the soldiers clash and destroy one another being of epic proportions. The attention to detail, which also includes the struggle of the rowers on the lower portion of the boats, is also of the highest level, resulting in a rather extended sequence that definitely deserves to be watched on the big screen.

Overall, "Hansan: Rising Dragon" is unashamedly a big-budget, blockbuster type of production, with all the pros and cons of this type of films, but one that definitely deserves a watch for its production values and final battle.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

___________

"Hansan: Rising Dragon: Rising Dragon" is directed by Kim Han-min, and features Park Hae-il, Byun Yo-han, Ahn Sung-ki, Son Hyun-joo, Kim Sung-kyu, Kim Sung-kyun. Release date in Korea: 2022/07/27.