IR Film Review: NORYANG - DEADLY SEA [Well Go USA]

The history of the Far East in many ways like the US comes down to perspective. With "Noryang: Deadly Sea", the last in a supposed trilogy of Admiral Yi, most of the robustly beautiful and historical context may be lost on Western viewers but the immenity of the battles and the lengths many soldiers will go to in order to achieve honor is admirable. While the first 3/4s of the film is bathed in alot of exposition (and some immense and beautiful production and costume design), the film doesn't quite take off until the actual battle at the end begins. The film itself is about how alliances are forged and broken down in the guise of power and family recognition then rearranged according to whim or supposed advantages (as with most wars). The strategy on the water is dynamic but it takes too long to get to.

Most of the set up revolves in almost a he-said/they-said mentality of how a war should be fought which simply sets up the final battle as a poker game where sides change constantly. With so many moving parts, alot of would-be tension gets lost in the wash because the idea of what is being gained or lost with these thousands of men dying becomes a jumble. The jockeying for control is between China, Japan and Korea and the reasons for each one's superiority and strength is not made abundantly clear. Granted this likely was covered in the first two movies so entering into this world without that information likely impacts its enjoyment. That said, once the final moments and a turning point in the battle commences, the reasoning and the patrotic resoanance of what it is happening, among scores of sword fighting, mortars and blood spilling starts to take shape. Admiral Yi, at that point, connects to all, not because of his fighting prwess but because of his sheer will of action that rippled across the entire ocean battlefield. B

By Tim Wassberg