Directed by: Lee Seok-hoon (이석훈) Starring: Kim Nam-gil, (김남길), Son Ye-jin (손예진), Yoo Hae-jin (유해진) Release Date: August 6th, 2014
Actress Son Ye-jin (The Classic, A Moment to Remember) has transcended her days as a mere fan favorite in recent years as her image and talents have spread overseas in the wake of her highly successful drama series Something in the Rain and Crash Landing on You. As the actress becomes more of a global icon, her fans have embarked on a journey through her filmography spanning nearly twenty years to enjoy her cinematic roles that originally captured a first wave of Korean film fans in the early 2000’s.
Known mostly for her dramatic roles and charming image, 2014’s The Pirates is Son Ye-jin’s first major action role as she portrays a swashbuckling female pirate captain. With the help of some crude special effects and obvious stunt doubles during the high-flying wire work, the role is somewhat successful if not slightly awkward as it struggles to find a place within the massive clash of machismo from its overly-stuffed and male dominated ensemble cast. Nonetheless, The Pirates gives fans an atypical glimpse of the now legendary actresses Son Ye-jin as she kicks ass and takes names with some energetic swordplay and other martial arts skills in what remains to be one of her most physically dynamic screen appearances to date.
An alliance is established with the Ming emperor who bestows a treasured royal seal upon the newly established country of Joseon to mark its inauguration. However, during the seal’s transport to the royal court by sea, a giant whale protecting its calf smashes the the ship and swallows the royal seal whole. To save face, the couriers cite an attack by pirates as the reason for the seal’s disappearance. When retrieval of the royal seal becomes the new kingdom’s top priority, the Joseon King calls for the eradication of the pirate menace.
Meanwhile, a small group of court ministers enlist a former soldier now being held prisoner (Kim Tae-woo) to head the naval expedition to hunt down the whale that swallowed the seal. While at sea, they must contend with two other formidable factions of outlaws who have also learned the truth behind the seal’s disappearance. One group being the ragtag gang of bandits lead by a former Goryeo solider called Crazy Tiger (Kim Nam-gil), and the other being a crew of pirates lead by the formidable female buccaneer Yeo-wol (Son Ye-jin), also known as the rising dragon. In a time of great turmoil, the missing chapter of Joseon’s foundation resurfaces in a roaring skirmish on the high seas!
The Pirates begins with some stellar nighttime photography in the military camp of some high-ranking Goryeo soldiers and features some great martial arts choreography in the rain. While it’s nothing new, it is very watchable and sets up The Pirates in a great way. Unfortunately, as soon as the film cuts to a pirate skirmish on the high seas during the daytime, the overall cinematic quality takes a major dip. Reminiscent of a battle between the Lost Boys and Captain Hook’s crew in the now nearly 30 year old film Hook, the ships look like they’re floating in a giant swimming pool and the make-up and costuming feels over applied as if for a stage play. The fight choreography also becomes a series of unconnected action shots that fail to cohesively capture any of the many battles taking place aboard the ship.
The action scenes throughout The Pirates leave a lot to be desired. There is great ambition in the several set pieces, especially the one in Central Port where the two leads meet for the first time, but the quality of the special effects doesn’t come close to matching that ambition. The effects quality is understandably sub-par when compared to a Hollywood production, but even the low budget action gore extravaganzas from Japanese filmmaker Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police, The Ninja War of Torakage) prove that low budget effects can work wonders when the world is properly established for them. But the goofiness in The Pirates emerges much too late and the cheesy effects never work in its favor.
The Pirates is an interesting allegory for the founding of Joseon but will most likely be lost on those unfamiliar with the historical context in which the story unfolds. After the successful coup d’état carried out by a general of Goreyo and an alliance with the Ming empire is established, not only do people seem to question the nature in which their newly established country of Joseon came about, but the infusion of Confucian ideology on the peninsula begins to squash the long upheld tradition of Buddhism on the peninsula. This leaves a lot of people feeling uneasy about their allegiances, and the emergence of bandits and pirates who feel to be strangers in their own home seem reflect this turmoil.
So scenes involving the pirates stealing golden statues of Buddha (former priceless relics now hardly able to be traded for guns and ammunition needed to hunt down the whale), or characters like the monk who holds a high position among the bandits, are used to help define the protagonists as a kind of resistance fighter to sympathize with. But this may be a big ask from international audiences who will likely find these parts of The Pirates to be more of a quirk than a feature of the story. Also, the two leads, Crazy Tiger the head bandit and Yeo-wol the pirate captain who is referred to as a resurrected dragon, seem to reinforce this newly fused identity the people of Joseon will take on.
Lead actress Son Ye-jin (My Wife Got Married, White Night) looks great in The Pirates and is very stylish in costume and make-up. She has some fun moments but her character hardly appears much at all during the nearly 2 hour and 10 minute runtime. Her role doesn’t even become clear until about the 40 minute mark when her pirate crew is tasked with hunting down the whale due to her notoriously fast ship. There’s also some very funny moments with male lead Kim Nam-gil (The Closet) as the bandit leader, but the overall chemistry between the two feels lacking as Son Ye-jin stays very dramatic when Kim Nam-gil begins to ramp up the comedy.
Yoo Hae-jin (1987: When the Day Comes, Intimate Strangers) as the ex-pirate turned bandit unexpectedly steals the show. Yoo’s comedic talents are priceless and it is very understandable to want to use him as much as possible when he’s part of the cast. But in a jester role, there seems to be a bit of an over reliance on him in The Pirates which detracts quite a bit from the supposed leads. One could begin to make a great argument that his character is actually the lead protagonist almost like a C-3PO or R2-D2 in Star Wars.
Overall, The Pirates feels like a weird mix between Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the anime One Piece with some historical basis. Decked out in great costuming and make-up, the characters are all very fun and likable as they clash on the high seas, fighting over a priceless treasure. But the historical allegory and symbolism behind the majestic whale hunt may end up being too much of an afterthought to impact audiences who will likely be lost in the confusing tonal shifts between drama and comedy amidst the cringe worthy special effects. If the sequel ever comes, instead of trying to recreate something that for budget reasons ends up resembling a Pirates of the Caribbean screen test, I hope they tighten up the story and script and bring the whole project down a few notches in scale.
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