Review of Woochi: The Demon Slayer (2009) by Mattias E — 04 Nov 2010

Legendary taoist priest Jeon Woo-Chi, who might or might not have been a historical person back in 16th century Korea, gets a total make-over by Choi Dong-Hoon, one of Korea's most promising commercial directors.

And Choi handles the transition from folklore to popculture in extremely flashy fashion, armed with a full star cast and nifty CGI. The result is remarkably entertaining and plays like a smorgasbord of genre cinema, with large chunks of historical epic, martial art set pieces, comedy and, of course, romance.

Admittedly, the pure and simple fun of Woochi might disappoint fans of Choi's previous films, as it lacks their formal inventiveness and narrative twists, but the light touch hardly makes it a lesser movie experience.

Great lead actor Kang Dong-Won successfully turns the Woo-Chi character into a goofy superhero of sorts, and it's fully rewarding to watch him in excel in such a flamboyant part.