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| VOLCANO HIGH. SPECIAL EDITION. Starring - Kim Kyung So - Shin Min Ah - Kim Soo-Roh - Gong Kyo-Jin Director - Kim Tae-Gyun. 2001. Kim Kyung Soo steps through the gates of Volcano high, a school which boasts a 108 year history, but few know of its existence, it is known only to those who have attained the highest levels of martial arts. Kim has been expelled for the 8th time for his failure to control his supernatural powers. This time though Kim is determined to stay out of trouble and graduate. This won’t be too easy though as the school is currently in a state of turmoil, due to 17 years of feuding started by the ‘Great teachers battle’. The school has fallen into disarray after the authorities stripped the teachers of their power, as self-indulgence disguised as self-control grips the student body. A legend speaks of a secret manuscript, which will end the chaos, but only the strongest student can attain this secret text. Song Hak-Rim is the current holder of the manuscript but he is framed in the attempted murder of the Principal, because of this he can no longer be determined as the strongest in the school. This inspires Jang Ryang the Dark Ox to become the new head of the school, along with his famous weight lifting team he begins to fight his way to the top of the ladder, but he is not the only one after the manuscript. The vice-principal also yearns for this item and is willing to stop at nothing to gain it. He recruits the talents of the ‘School 5’ a hardy and well-disciplined group of teachers in order to sate his hunger for the manuscript. Sometimes a movie comes along that really stands out from the rest and in this case Volcano high surpasses the rest comfortably. Shot with the highest regard to every detail by director, Kim Tae-Gyun, Volcano high reeks of quality from the beginning. Volcano high feels like a manga, with it’s outrageous but credible story line, focussing on the fortunes of one student Kim Kyung Soo (Jang Hyuk) who tries in vain to avoid all confrontation, as he is dragged into matters beyond his control. As is the norm for most movies these days the hero must have some form of romantic inspiration and also some form of brutish distraction. The former is provided by Yoo Chae Yi (Shin Min Ah). Leader of the Kendo group and nicknamed Icy Jade, and the latter by the Dark Ox, Jang Ryang (Kim Soo-Roh), leader of the Weightlifting team and also the school bully. The story whlst not being overly taxing is backed up by some terrific visuals, with a fantastic blend of CG animation, lighting and live action. After shooting the animators digitally enhanced each frame to give the movie a surreal and dark feel and it works. If you thought the visuals in ‘Storm riders’ were good then you need to check these out. The action played out in these segments again is a great blend of wire-fu and martial arts, with some cool stuntwork and frighteningly real impacts. The choreography is well paced but at times feels slightly over congested, with so much happening on screen it is difficult to take it all in. My only other gripe with Volcano high is the slightly Americanised ending where we see our hero applauded in a way Rocky Balboa would be proud of. These two minor gripes aside Volcano high is a fantastic movie with some immense fight scenes and a brilliant cast that sees impressive debut's from the two leads Jang Hyuk and Shin Min-Ah. Volcano high will captivate anyone with an appreciation of wires and magic. Kim Tae-Gyun has engineered a magical film that I personally will enjoy again and again. Be aware though,as is the case with the amazing Bichunmoo. Two versions of this film are available with the original Korean version being 20 minutes longer than the international release. I have the shorter Japanese S/E release of the movie and will indeed be hunting down the original. Thanks to Koreanfilm.org for that. 9*********stars. |
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