One of the advantages of writing a passable swordfighting screenplay is that you don't need to create a lot of dialogue. All you need to do is to set up some clang-worthy conflicts. In Choi Jae-hoon's historical drama The Swordsman, the taciturn title character (Jang Hyuk) has two good reasons to unsheath his prong-tipped blade: to defend his king (Jang Hyun-sung) and to rescue his daughter (Kim Hyun-soo). He's sadly less concerned with the fate of the common people or the staff at the local Buddhist temple. Partially blinded by stray metal shards that lodged in his eyes during one fateful duel, he's reluctant to get involved unless absolutely necessary. Although, after watching him slice-and-dice crowds of well-armed enemies (guns included), I question his reticence to support nobler causes. Is stopping slavery and sex trafficking honestly beneath his dignity?
And is his royal highness worth fighting for? The Swordsman doesn't make much of a case for the noblest of nobles. Loyalty for tradition's sake comes up short, even if this movie's bad guys are mostly distinguished by their hairdos: there's shaved head (Ji Geon-woo), teased punk bouffant (Ji Seung-hyeon); a braided mohawk (?), and Disney half-ponytail (Joe Taslim), their confident leader. The one time he gets mad is when someone messes with his Instagram model acupuncturist (Angelina Danilova). In this way only is The Swordsman ahead of its time.
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