Volcano High

I can understand why this film splits viewers into those who either love it-to-death or those who despise it. To properly enjoy Volcano High, you will need to relax, loosen up and dig up some old skool memories.

Considering this is primarily a fun film, main and periphery characters are well portrayed, and there's a lots of subtle comedy and bombastic drama to keep anyone with a developed sense of humour happy.

However, if you love martial arts movies, you will be disappointed - the martial arts is spread pretty thin. Although Volcano High is Korean, it appears to have gone the way of recent Hong Kong kung fu films, in that choreography is either obscured or entirely replaced by CGI effects. However, the special effects and acting are top-notch, Hyuk Jang especially evoking both sniggers and respect.

Well made and good fun if you don't take your movie-watching too seriously. If, however, you want something a bit more substantial from Korea, try Musa or Shiri.

Volcano High

By Greg Ursic

Being the best at something is great (or so I hear): you get to bathe in the limelight, be adored by legions, and quite possibly get loads of cash. But whether you're the heavyweight boxing champ or king of the tiddly-winks set, there's one annoying downside - someone is always trying to knock you off your throne. Throw superpowers into the mix and things get even more complicated.

Expelled yet again for fighting, Kyeong-su Kim is transferred to Volcano High, a cross between Hogwarts and Xavier's school for gifted children: the students possess a stunning range of martial and mental skills. Unfortunately for Kyu, who has sworn off fighting, he finds himself caught between warring sports clubs vying for control of the school and a secret book of magic. And as the powerful new kid everyone wants Kyeong-Su on their team or out of the way. And you thought your high school was tough.

From the opening sequence with its pounding score and action teaser you know that this film is going to be a lot of fun. Boasting a retinue of strutting characters with pompous sounding names, hilarious slapstick, physical humor, strong female roles, leather clad villains, intricate, over-the-top Matrix-style wire work and great CGI, this film offers the martial arts aficionado everything they could want. There's even a fleshed out subplot that addresses the rote style learning and nonconformist obedience typical of old-style Asian schooling. But I digress. The fight sequences are carefully parsed out, leaving the viewer wanting for more, but the payoff is well worth the wait - the final showdown has the best combination of choreography/visual effects/mood/scoring that I've seen in a film in this genre.

My only concern was that the subtitles were very dim and placed low on the screen making them difficult to read. Unless you're trying to make notes like I was, this won't be a big problem.

If you like your martial arts films loud and flashy (and who doesn't?), this is one you definitely want to see on the big screen. I'm already waiting for the sequel.

P.S. I hear that Resurrection of the Little Match Girl is even better!

The main problem with Volcano High is that it is half an hour too long. I felt that the first half of the film worked pretty well. The plot was incoherent, but there was a sense of movement, and the tension was building well. But when the evil teachers turned up, and that naughty kid Ryang got beaten up (repeatedly), the film suddenly stopped moving.

For the first part of Volcano High's the action sequences were amiably ludicrous, but also fairly understated. People flew around but no one really cut loose. At the final confrontation, we were ready for a bit of visual hyperbole, and I was expecting something as mind-blowing as the finales to Storm Riders, or Swordsman II, but instead the film closed with a protracted and very dull punch-up.

Visually, though, Volcano High is tremendous. While the action was derivative of the Matrix, it struck me that the camerawork and choreography had more life and grace than in that film. The comedy was amiably goofy, and the actors were charismatic.

So, not a bad film, but I think that any other persons wishing to make wu xia high school comedies can improve the formula by applying more care and attention.

VOLCANO HIGH is a film with some incredible special effects. The fights, heavily aided by CGI, is quite thrilling to watch. The story itself is a bit bare, but seeing as how VOLCANO HIGH is nothing more than an anime given live-action treatment, it's to be expected.

Of note are a couple of scenes lifted from DARK CITY, which itself lifted the scene from the final showdown in the Japanese animation AKIRA.

VOLCANO HIGH is not altogether a bad film. It's quite nice to look at, and there is enough action to keep just about anyone from being bored.

6 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie or reviews of other foreign films)

I felt kinda disappointed when I first saw this, but must admit after seeing it a second (and third) time, that it is actually relatively consistent, in the same way that a manga comic might be utterly confusing, but in the end, after thorough investigation make sense.

The argument evolves around this though, whether it is relevant to make an action fling that requires for you to see it two or three times, before grasping the basic content. Hak-rim is falsely accused of poisoning the head-master of the school, but actually it's Jang Ryang and the vice-head-master (is it called that, I haven't got a dictionary here) who conspired to put Hak-Rim and the head-master out of action in a devious and cunning stroke, because they want the scroll for them selves.

The entire story evolves around this secret scroll, that will end something by doing something which is never quite clear, but the box for the scroll is empty. Suspense! and then enters the school-fiver, five awesome guys who have real ultimate power. and their leader says: "tell a lion that has never seen a mouse, that the mouse is dangerous, and he will lie sleepless. But it will be a weak lion that scares that easily." So, what he says is that there is no scroll. But then he says that there IS a scroll, and then they all fight.

The first 4/5 of the film is great fun. Monumental scenes, for example Jang Ryang getting on his knees for icy jade, to the sound of cheesy '60 rockabilly, will stand till kingdom come, but there are major holes, and basically the storyline is to badly told, though interesting if you take your time. last 5th is too long. like this comment.