Woochi: The Demon Slayer

2009

2h 16m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

140

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19 Images

Adventure

Action

Comedy

Fantasy

Spanning four centuries in Korea, this epic action-adventure concerns a powerful pipe and a trio of wizards who will do anything to protect it.

Directors

Choi Dong-hoon

Writers

Choi Dong-hoon(writer by)

Stars

Gang Dong-won

Kim Yun-seok

Lim Soo-jung

See production, box office & company info

Videos1

Trailer
Watch Jeon Woo Chi Trailer English Sub

Top cast

Jeon Woo-chi

Hwa-dam

Seo In-kyeong

Chorangyi

Buddhist Monk

Shaman

Priest

Female Doctor …

Helper …

Woo-chi's Mentor

Actress

Red Hair

King

Palace Girl

White Jacket

Jeon Woo-chi's 10

Mastermind

Aristocrat

Directors

Choi Dong-hoon

Writers

Choi Dong-hoon(writer by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

(spoiler free) I've watched a lot of Korean movies over the years - from the silly (Sex is Zero) to the sublime (Oasis) and enjoyed most of them, even some of the more marginal titles like Spygirl and A.F.R.I.K.A. But for me, and the group of people watching it with me, Jeon Woochi was a big bust. The biggest problem I had with this movie was the terrible pacing, especially in the first 30 minutes of the movie where the timeline was not linear and the director did practically nothing to inform the audience that he had made a jump in time until wrapping up the scene and rejoining the main timeline. Other problems included a major lack of funny - there was so much opportunity for "fish out of water" jokes, but the writers barely even tried. And it wasn't like the comedy was too subtle either, much of the humor in the movie was just too ham-fisted to laugh at. There were also way too many fast cuts during action sequences - it made it difficult to enjoy the biggest feature of the movie: the excellent CGI. The director barely gives the audience a chance to focus on the contents of a shot before cutting to a new camera angle. I recognize these fast cuts are a modern Hollywood style, but it is still a terrible one to emulate. The story itself was, as expected, fairly simple. But even then, the telling of it was too convoluted - due mainly to the confusing timeline. I haven't given any examples to illustrate my criticism because I wanted to avoid spoilers as much as possible but still provide a counter-point to the misleadingly high rating (7.0 as I write this) and the other 5 or so reviews which all gave the movie exceptional scores. It was on the basis of that rating and the other reviews that I purchased the korean blu-ray and would strongly recommend that no one else waste their time or money the way I did. I suggest watching the older Arahan which has a similar "wizardry in the modern city" plot. I had a lot more fun watching Arahan despite its flaws. Also, watch out for the korean blu-ray. It is poorly mastered - the black levels are elevated making the picture look washed out and hazy unless you have a fancy display that can correct the problem.

Dali Parton09 Feb, 2017