(This is The Divine Fury film review, which is a dark Korean Christian-themed movie that is similar to Constantine)
Do you know South Korea has one of the largest populations that follows the teaching of Jesus Christ? So it’s natural that many films are produced with the religion as a theme, where the good fight the evil. The Divine Fury is yet another one that has appeared this year tackling the same subject.
It is directed by Jason Kim, who is famous for his Midnight Runners film, and features big stars such as Park Seo Joon, Ahn Sung Ki and Woo Do Hwan, with a big cameo by Choi Woo Shik. Now let us quickly jump into The Divine Fury film review below!
Premise
When a martial art champion suffers from demon’s disturbances due to his childhood, a stigmata starts to appear in his hand that can exorcise demons. With the help of another experienced Father sent from Pope himself, he begins to delve himself into the supernatural world. But will he be able to conquer his inner demons?
The Divine Fury Film Review
Premise
Truth be told, the story is kind of a mess. It starts off well enough, but also in a very cliché way. We see him losing his dad and that becomes the reason he hates God. I feel like compared to the rest of the plot, the starting at least seems decent.
Things become messier down the road, where for some reasons, an unknown big bad guy starts to kill people for no reason other than to gain power. So the film becomes like a chase between the good and bad guys, with some (or too many) scenes of exorcisms of other demons.
Most of the exorcisms happen in almost similar manner that it becomes boring and predictable
The story does not seem to have a proper climax, and there are many repeated scenes of them just repeating the bible and there are a bit too many demons to be exorcised. Worse, most of the exorcisms happen in almost similar manner that it becomes boring and predictable.
Lastly, the characters will undergo some transformation that seems to appear out of nowhere or without any definite reason. And the ending just ends in kind of a cliffhanger, as this film will have a sequel, like MCU series.
Pacing/Visual
Pacing is also pretty horrible. The starting is good but it gets worse as the film goes. I feel that there are too little action in the whole 2 hour duration, and too much talking between the characters. This become the the anti-thesis of Show don’t tell’. Come on, the MMA background of the characters literally become quite useless here.
the CGI saves this film from being a total boredom
Visually, it boasts of some good CGI effect, albeit at a simpler one. Most of them are only momentarily, and also includes demon transformation, but those moments are pretty good. I have to say the CGI saves this film from being a total boredom.
Characters
The characters themselves are also a problem. Most of them are cliché and full of stereotypes, except for the first 2 lead. So we have the main character who hates God because He does not save his father and mother from death despite praying wholeheartedly. And then he is attacked by demon, and stigmata appears suddenly.
Most of them are cliché and full of stereotypes
Now, the character has no motivation to actually fight evil, and it’s all explained that due to his father and the Father that he becomes the enemy of evil demons. But the film does not actually provide any good reasons why he should stick, and it seems like the character just changes his mind after some dialogues, which is ridiculous.
Next, the Father himself is actually the more decent one, with sufficient reasons for his deeds. And he interacts with the main character very well. I feel that he also helps to make the film more ‘human’ in terms of giving that friendly vibe to the audience. Otherwise, without him, this film would be way more soulless.
The antagonist is a disappointing one, with no depth and only seeks to harm others. The film does not even bother to introduce his backstory or his past to explain why he did what he did. So we have a very one-sided evil character that kills just for the sake of it. Truly disappointing.
Truth be told, it’s not the actors fault as they are phenomenal in the industry, but it’s just mostly due to the bad scripts.
we have a very one-sided evil character that kills just for the sake of it
Soundtrack
Soundtrack is just alright, nothing memorable. They help with the atmosphere and mood, and some of the more intense fight scenes. But sadly, they do not stand out as they are more generic types.
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