Hansan: Dragão Ascendente

I truly enjoyed the whole movie. The intricate costume design and meticulously crafted set in this movie are cool, man. The Japanese armor design is dope af, and they've truly captured it exceptionally well. I love that they showcase the nuanced aftermatch of his campaign in this movie. The cinematography is top-notch, with numerous beautiful scenes that vividly capture the grand scale of war. Usually, other series or movies don't depict it with such precision.

However, it's kinda hard to follow the plot, even with my knowledge of the Imjin War. And yeah, I agree that the first movie was much better in terms of direction, but this movie excels in action, in my opinion. As a devoted fan of Admiral Yi Sun Shin, I thoroughly enjoy this movie despite its flaws.

Finally, man, can they just hire a Japanese actor for a Japanese character? After watching so much anime, I can distinctly hear the not-so-Japanese-speaking character. You can almost sense the un-Japaneseness. And I'm not even Japanese. Imagine for people who speak Japanese; it must be hell to listen to. I'm not against the actor, but at least if you don't want to hire a Japanese actor, consider a Korean actor with fluent Japanese.

Unabashedly Korean blockbuster had arguable historical accuracy but Kim Han-min surely treated audience with impressive production values and 'geokbukseon' final battle. That's how weak interrelated subplots and underutilized characters are forgiven.

The film was excellent and professional in terms of direction And In terms of filming and special effects, it is done in such a way that one cannot tell the difference between reality and design Considering that the Admiral's story has been made in other series and movies and it is almost a repeated script, nevertheless, the making of the movie was very interesting and exciting.

Also, the movie was designed very well in terms of the beginning of the story and the end of the story, and it was in such a way that the person who watched the movie was not left without answers about anything, that is, it was not confusing.

While it's not Yi Sun Shin's greatest naval victory, it is nevertheless a significant event in Korean history. The sea battle is beautifully depicted, though conflating details from his other naval battles, it still gets some key facts right, and about the famous turtle ships and Korean and Japanese fighting tactics. More importantly, you get a different look than the western navies that relied on sail and wind.

The movie feels a bit rushed at the start to set the stage. When you have a movie about a naval battle, I can understand that you can't spend a lot time on the buildup of events leading up to it, but it could be confusing for non-Koreans who did not grow up learning about it in school. There are of course also lots of manufactured drama, but that's to be expected--this is not a historical documentary.

This is the prequel to "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" (2014), which depicts Yi Sun Shin's most famous victory at Myeongryang Strait some five years after the events in this film.

I have been waiting for this movie for 8 years and I have to say I got what I wanted. The introduction of the movie was done well especially the opening battle. It showed naval warfare from a perspective different from that of the Europeans. The costumes and the sets of the movie was able to show what it would truly have looked like at that time. I find this movie unique in that there are simply not that many movies out there that show the samurai from this perspective which is that of an antagonist, and instead most of the movies seem to show the samurai as these incredibly heroic beings. Speaking of the samurai, their costumes and culture was shown splendidly in the movie.

The Koreans were given a more human quality and were also depicted quite well in terms of costumes and culture.

The climax was simply incredible.

I must say however, the first half of the movie with the large number of names and historical people could confuse some people, especially those not well versed in Korean History or not paying attention. However if you are aware of it, then it is not much of a problem. My say is that if you are looking for a movie to watch in a laid back fashion, its not the best pick.

The movie had a nice soundtrack that went well with movie overall. I'd rate it a 9/10.

Pumped and saddened for the last movie of this trilogy which will mark the great generals death...