Hansan: Narodziny smoka

The second part of Han-min Kim's trilogy about the famous naval battles in South Korea, which takes place before 2014's The Admiral, but which I enjoyed a bit more. For one thing, it had an R-rated treatment and featured bigger stars, this one felt mostly similar to me just without the gore (there's really very little blood). For Koreans this is a major historical event and from what I've read the film is very historically accurate, but that will be appreciated more by Korean audiences. The first hour is slower, but I enjoyed the strategies and planning tactics on both sides of the barricades (espionage, intelligence gathering, battle formations). The final half hour is a classic action ride and the epic scale is definitely not to be denied. Visually the film is of a high standard with good CGI, I'm just not that into naval battles, it doesn't do anything for me and it's not often that I get slightly bored with action. With some more rawness, I would probably be more interested. Just a better average for me, the film has its qualities, but I won't be going back to it. I'm sure it will find its fans. 6/10. (25.09.2022)