Never thought to see a pirates movie from Korea and it somehow worked. I think it took a lot of inspiration from Pirates of the Caribbean but still distinctively Korean. However, with the ridiculous premise of the royal seal getting swallowed by a whale, I was expecting more comedy action than serious action. With Kim Nam Gil, Yu Hae Jin, Kim Won Hae in the cast, they could have used their comedic skills to put some fun in this drama. Like Robin Williams’ Hook.

Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this immensely, even with the silly plot. I have watched more Son Ye Jin dramas and movies where she is crying or getting romantic so it’s a nice change for me to see her to action (I know she can do action, just haven’t watched them). This movie is made up of a stellar cast, I didn’t name them all in the main cast section, just the main leads and the baddies.

The movie is quite long, the first part gave a background to set the expectations and motives of the story, the second part is how the two separate lives of Sa Jung and Yeo Wol get entangled together, and the third act is where everyone comes together to have an epic battle on the high seas. There was also a mini romance between Sa Jung and Yeo Wol which was inserted in and which I loved.

Overall, fun adventure movie good for a rainy Friday night!

Rating: 8/10