Movie Monday – Memories of the Sword (2015)

Starring: Lee Byung Hun as Deok Ki, Jeon Do Yeon as Seol Rang, Kim Go Eun as Seol Hee, Lee Kyeong Yeong as Teacher, Kim Tae Woo as Jon-Bok, and Lee Jun Ho as Yool

Rating: PG-13/R, subject matter and some violence

Running Time: 121 min

Twinkies: 4 1/2 stars

Synopsis: Three warriors from the Goryo Dynasty, Poong-Chun, Deok-Ki and Seol-Rang pledge to fight for the impoverished people under the incompetent king and they lead a riot. However, due to Deok-Ki’s betrayal, Poong-Chun dies and Seol-Rang, as stricken by guilt, flees with Poong-Chun’s sword and his infant daughter, Hong-Yi.

18 years later, the female warrior is now blind and she trains the young woman in martial arts. Soon Seol-Rang reveals that she is the one who killed her parents. Hong-yi falls in utter shock, leaves Seol-Rang and plans to get revenge on both her and Deok-Ki, by now the most powerful man in the country. Soon blood will be shed.

Musings: Talk about a movie exceeding your expectations!! This movie simply had everything you would expect: action, great cinematography, excellent story, and acting worthy as well as memorable. Wait, let’s not forget great cast!

Regardless of what people say, Lee Byung Hun is a great actor. As Deok-Ki, you couldn’t help hate the man but at the same time understand his twisted logic for power. Here is a man who has fought for others and selfishly wanted his own, even at the expense of his best friend and his family.

Jeon Do Yeon was just stunning as the guilt-ridden and blinded Seol-Rang. As repentance, she raises the daughter of her friend that she personally murdered; trained the girl in martial arts with the intend of giving the girl the means to take her revenge on both Seol-Rang as well as Deok Ki for killing her mother and her father. You cannot imagine the guilt she had as she followed Deok Ki’s plan simply for love but when she diverted from the plan, Deok Ki didn’t think twice about turning his weapon against her.

Now, Kim Go Eun, I’ve admired since watching her as the super duper crazy Bok Sun in the movie, Monster. As you can expect, the performance that this 24 year old young lady has given was outstanding and her movies are generally well received. As the young Seol Hee, you can see the confusion she had on pursuing and killing the woman that she grew up with as her mother.

I have to mention Lee Jun Ho as Yool. I wasn’t expecting much as I never do with idol actors. Sometimes I think casting directors simply pick idols to fill characters in the hopes of drawing fans of the groups; however, Lee Jun Ho was pretty impressive. You can tell that he work hard for this role that was reflected in his action scenes. His action scenes and sword work scenes were well orchestrated. He impressed me.

While Jun Ho fans would have liked to see more development of a relationship between Seol Hee and his Yool, I was happy with it as the movie was about the revenge and really not about the romance. The story left enough to your imagination to figure out which way it might go. That was enough for me.

One thing for sure, this movie has twists and turns that you would never expect. I loved that the writer twisted the story to make it unpredictable to a point but at the same time beautiful in its execution. Loved it. This is definitely one for my collection.

Trailer is available on on YouTube Website only. The movie is available on various streaming website.

I’m available on Twitter. Thanks to all of you Twinkles out here who are taking the time to read! If you have a suggestion for a future review, just leave me a comment! I’m always happy to have movie suggestions.