The Divine Move

I really don't like to use the word disappointment, but here it is unfortunately justified. A film I've been waiting almost half a year for. the trailer lured me in for a cool action ride) but in the end it's a thriller and sports drama that is 60% about the acclaimed game of Go, and since I don't know the rules, I wasn't too interested in the game. There are plenty of star performances here, and Woo-sung Jung is great, as excellent as ever, but as for the action, which I was most looking forward to, that's the stumbling block. For one thing, there's not much of it and most importantly it’s not engaging at all, it's short, oddly edited, I wasn't entertained, it's kind of lifeless, you can't hear the cadence of the punches. Occasionally there is a decent gore scene, but that's it, really. Only the finale is worth mentioning, it woke me up quite a bit because there was a hint of choreography, but as an action fan I'm very disappointed here (there’s more action in the trailer than in the film). I would go into the movie just for the interesting and original story, but count on the slow pace. 55% (11/15/2014)