Action packed and very madcap, Woochi The Demon Slayer has come to DVD and Blu-ray with a pow, whoosh, and a laugh. The South Korean martial arts comedy has some excellent stunts, computer graphics and special effects, but the complicated first half of the film brings it down. That said, those who love the Jackie Chan films like The Medallion, should eat this one up like ice cream.
The story follows several characters, but the main attraction is Jeon Woo-chi (Kang Dong Won) a wacky wizard who finds himself in trouble when he’s accused of killing his master for a magic flute that will help defeat ancient monsters. In a feat of enchantment Woo-chi gets imprisoned by the evil Hwa Dam (Kim Yoon Seok) by forcing him into a scroll with Chorangyi (Yu Hae Jin) his dog turned human. All this happens in the first half of the film where a lot of build up takes place along with some cool wizardry antics conjured up to evade those who want Woo-chi out of the picture.
In the second half of the film we find Woo-chi and Chorangyi pulled out of the scroll in the year 2009 where the two come face to face with Hwa Dam who is still searching for the magic flute so he can rule the world. Woo-chi pursues Hwa Dam while evading the monsters in a rollicking chop-sockeye sequence of battles reminiscent of The Legend of Drunken Master or even Kung Pow, but here you have to think Korean where they use a lot of aerials to move about during the fight scenes.
The timing by the players under the direction of Choi Dong-Hoon is impeccable with actors and stuntmen aerialists flying from rooftops with precision creating excitement as they fight each other in a martial arts battle. Dong-Hoon uses every inch of his pricy sets during one battle that lasts at least 10 minutes of film. His only downside comes with his penchant for a slow moving story with a lot of character build up of his many characters. In the beginning of the first half the back story gets out of hand at times providing needless information that grinds the film down to an uninteresting daze. A cut of at least 15 minutes would have given the film the kind of life necessary to excite American audiences.
The film can be called a special masterpiece of CGI where you can immerse yourself into a martial arts guilty pleasure will some new takes on presentation and performances. While this film may not be as bloody as the Indonesian film The Raid: Redemption (one of my all time favorite martial arts films) for example, it allows a younger audience to join in with the wacky action in Woo-chi: The Demon Slayer.
The costumes, props and actors are terrific and bring Korea of old and new to the screen with color and excitement. Dong-Hoon spares no expense in getting everything just right from the historical villages of straw and wood to the modern day buildings, fast cars and upscale fashions. He mixes a copious amount of computer graphics to create a magical fantasy.
The film has some cool bonus features that are a must see.
- “The Newest Korean Style Hero Movie” –Here you will see interviews with each of the main characters showing key scenes as they talk about their roles.
- “Making-of” Featurette” In this special we get a look at the stunts by the actors, martial arts choreography and other production values. Although the interviews are in Korean, as the actors do not speak much English, subtitles are provided (over the top of the Korean subtitles however).
- Deleted Scenes- This feature really wasn’t needed as Dong-Hoon put enough of his film up on the screen. Actually this is where he could have put the extra 15 minutes that he should have cut from the film.
- Production Featurettes- In this segment its broken down into sub clips that include; The Training Process, The World Outside the Frame, Production Design, Action and Special Effects, Shooting and Lighting and Post Production sound and editing. This section is a must for those who really want to see how a movie is made.
- The Magic Of Computer Graphics- breaks the special effect process into “Visual Art”, “GGI Scenes in Pre-production Stage”, “CGI Mixed in with Final Stages” and “The CGI Process Before and After”… My favorite is the before and after that is presented with a music background as you see it all coming together in a magical featurette.
The sound quality using Dolby Digital 5.1 enhanced by my upgraded speaker system comes in very good. The surround sound kicks in during most of the wild fighting scenes and the exciting car chase. You have a choice of watching the film dubbed in English or in Korean with English subtitles. The best choice is the Korean language as the voices of the dubbed in voice characters are not as exciting as those of the original actors.
The video quality is good, but I kept on thinking how better the colors would have been on Blu-ray (The film was reviewed on DVD). The costumes are gorgeous and the sets are brilliantly lit so with the DVD you should have no problem viewing all the action and beauty of the film. The CGI makes for some nice effects, especially when Woo-chi turns a wall into water, characters portal into scrolls, fire blazes from weapons, and much more.
Woo-chi The Demon Slayer is presented in its native Korean language with subtitles or you can turn on the dubbed in English if you do not want to read the dialogue. The film is unrated but contains a lot of martial arts action and some sexual innuendos. I suggest you watch the film a second time because there is so much going on that I’m sure you’ll miss some good plot points. Besides, it’s a DVD or Blu-ray, and repeating the action should be fun.
FINAL ANALYSIS: If you like Jackie Chan films, you will love Woo-chi. [rating=4]
Specifications and additional film information:
- Cast: Gang Dong-Won, Kim Yoon-Suk, Lim Soo-Jung, Yoo Hae-Jin
- Directed by: Choi Dong-Hoon
- MPAA Rating: Unrated
- Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Martial Arts
- Running Time: 1 hr 55 min
- Street Date: April 9, 2013
- Original Theatrical Release: December 23, 2009
- Language: Korean
- Format: DVD (Also available in Blu-ray)
- Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
- Subtitles: English
- Number of Discs: 1 Disc
- Distributed by: Shout Factory
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
