True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Movie: Kundo (15)Rating: 5/5Period action epics are a delight and treat to watch, largely because of their scale of production, grandeur, visual effects, splendid cinematography and lots of jaw-dropping action sequences. I can happily say I found all these and rather much more than all these in the South Korean action epic KUNDO: AGE OF THE RAMPANT. It's so amazing that I can watch it again and again!Ha Jung-woo is one of my favourite actors, and his performance is a major asset to this film. The transformation he undergoes is a treat to watch and his look suits him very well. Kang Dong Won is menacing at times, and delivers a terrific performance for a role that seems to be tailor-made for him. Cho Jin-woong and Ma Dong-seok are excellent and provide a good comic relief. Other actors like Lee Sung-min and Yoon Ji-hye, Lee Gyeung-young plays their parts extremely well. The best thing is that all actors fits in their respective roles.Direction by Yoon Jong-bin is excellent. The story and screenplay are both excellent, as is the editing since the film never bores at all. The technical aspects, for which the film won a lot of acclaim and accolades, are the major strength of KUNDO. The action sequences are jaw-dropping and are bound to impress action fans. The visuals effects are extremely impressive, as is the splendid cinematography. I really loved one shot in the climax action sequence with Ha Jung-woo, which showed him walking, with a good usage of sound effects while maintaining a heavy impact.The music too is a plus point of KUNDO, as it enhances the mood from time to time. Visually the film is like a fantasy.KUNDO: AGE OF THE RAMPANT is undoubtedly a great action-fantasy epic that deserves to be seen, at any cost.

Kundo is an odd but charming amalgamation of influences. While very strongly identifying itself as a martial arts film, much like The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) in its heart it's a western. Its hero, Dolmuchi certainly lends himself to western tropes; a downtrodden man turned outlaw seeking vengeance. Add to that a Robin Hood-esque sub-plot involving a band of larger-than-life rebels and you have yourself one of the most intriguing South Korean imports since Mother (2009).All is not well in Joseon dynasty Korea (approximately mid-19th century). There are consistent strife between the the ruling aristocracy and the poverty stricken farmers and artisans that struggle to survive. During this time Jo Yoon (Kang) is taken from the brothel he was born in, to the house of his father (Joo) and told he is the heir to his fortune; that is until his half-brother comes along. Thus, Jo Yoon slides into all-consuming evil and claws his way back up to power after the "death" of his brother. His brother's pregnant wife (Kkobbi) avoids harm so Jo Yoon hires a lowly butcher Dolmuchi (Ha) to finish the job. Dolmuchi refuses and his family is killed as a result. Thus the game of good and evil is set with Dolmuchi siding with a team of bandits who steal from the rich to give to the poor.Members of the the gang of bandits are introduced with flashy tile cards while riding in the saddle which emulates the slap-dash styling that defined Sergio Leone's most iconic westerns. You get a very clear sense of the personality of the bandits from the get-go and director Jong-Bin Yin wisely uses this short hand so we feel invested in their fate while concentrating solely on the struggles, both internal and external, of Jo Yoon and Dolmuchi. Dong-Won Kang is rapturous with his calm, concise words and demeanor. The concubine's son turned nobleman wears white and darts with the steady grace of a samurai yet his preening has a very dark and sinister side. Meanwhile Jung-Woo Ha's Dolmuchi is as coarse as a bag of rice with his constant swearing and Fairbanksian swagger. Despite receiving a burn on his head after the death of his family, Dolmuchi keeps a sense of humor and takes relish in relieving noblemen from their top knots. The commonality between the two is a seething anger that threatens to undo their progress.Despite it's epic sweep and solid acting, Kundo may ultimately have trouble putting butts in the seats due to its fighting sequences. The fights are well choreographed don't get me wrong, but there's nothing that stands out apart from perhaps the final showdown. Even then Jo Yoon is put at so much of a disadvantage one can't help but speculate that if he had the use of all his limbs and faculties he would once again be able to easily defeat Dolmuchi. In addition there are some scenes that seem to conflict in tone with one another for no apparent reason. Then again it might just be a product of film grammar from another culture I have yet to truly understand.All in all though, Kundo is a riveting Korean epic with a story that rivals the best of western mythology. There is some strong character work and directorial choices that sets it apart from others of its ilk and while the fighting scenes were short of spectacular, the bandits and their unique skills sets stop them from becoming monotonous.

''Kundo: Age of the Rampan'' is a South Korean period film which has become one of the country's highest grossing movies ever upon release. It has also won eight awards in five different film festivals. The movie is primary an action movie and costume drama in authentic locations. The film has a sinister atmosphere filled with tension due to a charismatic acting by Kang Dong-won who is playing an ambitious villain and Ha Jung-woo who portrays a sympathetic antihero who becomes an inspiration for oppressed citizens. The fight scenes are filled with both brutal tension and elegant aesthetics. Despite the coherently dark mood, there are a couple of more amusing and emotional scenes that keep the movie dynamical over an epic length of nearly two and a half hours.The story takes place during the late Joseon era and is partially inspired by authentic historic events. In a time of aristocratic tyranny, an illegitimate son strives for power and hires a poor butcher as assassin. Since the butcher is unable to complete his mission, he is terribly punished but manages to survive. He decides to change his life in order to protect those he was supposed to kill and fight those who have punished him. He changes identity and becomes a ferocious swordsman who helps the poor, persecuted and helpless people until the time is come to challenge his worst enemy to a final duel.The only negative points about this movie are the fact that the story itself is quite predictable and standard for its genre despite a couple of good conspiracies and intrigues and the exaggerated final fight that feels incoherent if compared to the rather realistic fight scenes in the rest of the movie.Still, ''Kundo: Age of the Rampant'' is a highly entertaining movie with lots of action and drama, great actors and characters and stunning locations and settings. Fans of historically inspired action movies can't get around one of last year's best Asian movies.

I personally thought this movie was alright and what standout about this movie the most is the cast. In a way the story is sort of similar to "Robin Hood" except there is no love interest between the protagonist and someone else. And it puts quite a bit of emphasis on the sword fighting martial arts sequences. There isn't many standout action sequence, except maybe on scene where the vicious nobleman takes on a group of bandits by himself (which is probably the best scene in the movie). Overall, this is a rebellion movie about peasants that got pushed around too far by corrupt officials and they decide to stand and fight. When it comes to the core, it's basically a story about a butcher that lost everything going up against nobleman who has father issues. In fact more than the butcher who is basically the hero or anti-hero of the story is one of the least interesting characters. And the most interesting one in this flick being the pretty boy nobleman who is also and elite swordsman and his back-story and what makes him tick. Overall this is a alright watch, with few decent scenes but when it comes down to it, it's actually quite forgettable. And just didn't have much meat to it. Sometimes simple story can really work, but in this case I just didn't really care.6.2/10