The faithful war movie “Hansan: Rising Dragon” tells of the success of the 16th century Korean national hero Yi Sun-sin, previously recorded in the 2014 movie “Battle Ocean Maritime Battle”. Both films directed by Kim Han-min use the knowledge and courage of Admiral Yi Sun-sin to fend off Japanese invaders trying to conquer the peninsula. The main event this time is the victory of South Korea, which was introduced as a feat of both strategy and technology at the Battle of Hansan Island in 1592.
Part of the film tracks Lee’s efforts to lay a logistical and diplomatic foundation for defense during the civil war and Japanese intelligence. (A series of daunting captions will appear on the screen to help identify the military personnel involved.) Yi (Park Hae-il) is portrayed as a wise and intentional leader, but he Noble bearings can easily feel solid and many military confabs are slack.
A topic that is repeatedly discussed is the deployment of turtle ships. This is a sturdy armored ship with cannons on all sides and a dragon head battering ram. When the movie finally enters the naval battle, these giant ships are worth the wait, barking in the water with an impressive sequence of switching wide shots and zooming in on Fraca. Many are made up of crane-wing combat formations that draw an arc of Yee, but their importance is overshadowed by the pure sight of the collision.
The drama in this movie is dressed in ornate costumes, but is often stilt and lacks the vibrancy of a battle stage. Too many reaction shots of a 1000-yard gaze from a military leader can be daunting, even in the glory of war.
Hansan: Rising Dragon
Unrated. Korean with subtitles. Execution time: 2 hours and 10 minutes. In the theater.
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