Trailers
Description
At the cusp of the founding of Joseon Dynasty, an envoy from China is delivering Emperor’s Ming’s Royal Seal. But nature in the form of a giant whale intervenes and swallows the royal seal. When a generous reward is offered to whomever can retrieve the royal seal from the belly of the whale, the race is on. A group of mountain bandits led by Jang Sa Jung and a group of pirates led by Yeo Wol go after the lost treasure, but who will get to to it first?
Starring
Awards
Key opinion
The Pirates is a visually ambitious adventure that successfully delivers large-scale action and high production values, clearly drawing inspiration from Hollywood blockbusters. While it impresses with its technical execution and committed performances, viewers remain divided on whether its humor and character archetypes stand as original contributions or derivative parodies.
| Production | The film features high-quality production design and sets that rival major international blockbusters in visual detail. | |
| Direction | The action choreography, particularly the sword fighting and dynamic battles, is skillfully staged and technically impressive. | |
| Acting | Lead performances by Son Ye-jin and Kim Nam-gil anchor the film with convincing effort and charisma. | |
| Humor | Opinions on humor are polarized; some enjoy the naive, lighthearted tone, while others find the jokes forced or occasionally failing to land. | |
| Originality | Views on originality are split; the film is praised for bringing a rare genre to Korean cinema, yet criticized for feeling like a derivative imitation of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. |