Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

rowmorg This movie pretends to deal with Korean history but freely departs into legend. A stout young fellow (and brilliant swordsman with his sort-of chopping axe) falls for the delicate and edible Queen before she is crowned, when she takes his punt to the seashore. Plenty of canoodling at this point. Later, she is Queen in the palace and the young man's prediction comes true (there's nothing but trouble in that there palace). He manages to barn-storm his way into the Palace guard, after successfully testing a new bullet-proof jacket. From then on he is dedicated to saving the Queen from destruction and his sword is irresistible. At one point he leaps around among the stars as he takes on the biggest swordsman in the Guard (they fight to a stand-off). When he runs off with Queenie for a few days to save her, the King's attention is alerted, and he decides to abandon his mistress and vigorously knock up the Queen (missionary and cowgirl positions). Eventually, the historic Japanese-friendly chancellor swears to kill the Queen, and our friend makes a brilliant, but suicidal, attempt to defend her. She is graphically run through by several super-sharp swords and dies with the young man's name (Johanes) on her lips for the first time. This is a grotesque romanticization of an ugly part of Korean history and the director does Korea no favours with his fantasy nonsense. Not strongly recommended.

KineticSeoul It takes a bit of patience to get into this movie mainly because of the way it flowed and because the editing wasn't done very well. And sometimes seemed over the place a bit at times, but it's still a good movie and a well shown story. This isn't a mindless sword fighting movie but there is some actual meat in the story. This movie is based on a true story that has historical characters in it, but I am not sure how much is accurate. Especially because it has some fantasy like elements in it sometimes and comes off a bit fairy tale like...Well not entirely though. The plot mostly revolves around a man who is a bounty hunter, but falls deeply in love with a person that is soon to be the queen of Joseon Dynasty. She is a open minded queen that didn't mind building ties with other foreign nations, especially with Russia in order to stop Japanese influence. Since japan at the time tried to oppress and meddle in the affairs of Korea constantly. So there is some politics and rebellion going on inside and out. And while this is going on the man that fell for the queen doesn't give up his devotion to her and tries his best to protect her no matter what. This is a movie that probably won't grab the attention of the audience right off the bat, but as it progresses you will get more invested in it. If the development of the story and editing was a bit better this movie would have been great. If your looking for a bright and happy romance movie this won't be for you. But what is brings out is emotional and heart-wrenching story with great actresses and actors.8/10

kira-lee I've been watching more of the films out of South Korea lately, and have largely been impressed by the skill -- in acting, directing, and special effects -- that is apparent in many of the titles. This one is certainly no exception.Having said that, I can't really speak to the historical accuracy of it. The central female character, the Queen, definitely existed and the film does seem to follow the rough details of how she influenced Korean history, but my impression is that some finer details may have been sacrificed in order to produce a more compelling film.The filmography is beautiful, a blend of beautiful nature shots that make you feel like you're in the Korean countryside, quiet court scenes and almost Matrix-esque swordfight scenes that still flow together seamlessly.The only difficulties I had with this movie were that, as with most subtitled films, sometimes it's difficult to follow exactly who the various characters are and the subtler nuances of what they are saying.Overall a very well-done film that is well worth the 2 hours spent watching it.

BronzeKeilani26 Director Kim Yong-gyoon's tale played out as a fascinating driven journey blending swordplay, high romance, and politics with nice action sequences and mind-boggling scenery! An excellent biopic of the beautiful & strong-willed 15 yr old consort of King Kojong from the Yi period, played by the Korea's enchanting Jae-woong Choi. It revolves around a 15 yr old girl named Ja-young, who later is crowned Queen Myeongseong, considered a national heroine in South Korea today, and her bodyguard, Moo-myoung. Moo-myoung starts off as a Joseon dynasty headhunter who tracks down fugitives and lives off their rewards. One day, he encounters a beautiful noble girl, Ja-young, and falls in love with her. A few years later, Ja-young enters the royal palace as the next queen of Joseon, Empress Myeongseong. Lovesick Moo-myoung becomes the personal guard to the Empress in order to be closer to her.Empress Myeongseong (19 October 1851 – 8 October 1895), is arguably one of the most controversial figures of the entire Joseon Dynasty back in the Yi period. Her parents passed away when she was 9, leaving her a poor orphan who had to live with the Mins of Yju, the place of her birth. She was made the royal consort in 1866 at the urging of Lady Min, consort of Hungsn Taewngun and mother of her future husband, King Kojong. At barely 16, she married the 15 yr old boy king at the Joseon Dynasty. She's portrayed as pure, innocent (but not naïve), devoted, and defiant. This movie is about her rise to power and bloody assassination (at the hands of the Japanese), which all seems to fall in line w/ historians. After Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, she advocated stronger ties between Korea and Russia in an attempt to block Japanese influence in Korea, which was represented by the Daewongun, her father-in-law. She is an assertive and ambitious woman, unlike other queens that came before her, and later becomes quite interested in politics and the western world via a French friend (Sophie Broustal); the arrival of electricity in the country; and international power politics. Miura Gorō, the Japanese Minister to Korea at the time and a retired army lieutenant-general, backed the faction headed by her father-in-law, whom he considered to be more sympathetic to Japanese interests. She tries to modernize the dynasty by allying with foreign nations but becomes turmoiled into a political power struggle. Moo-myoung must fend off devastating threats from her father-in-law and the foreign army(Japanese) in order to protect Ja-young from harm.A powerful & moving biopic. The Koreans have in recent years produced some pretty decent swordplay movies Bichunmoo, The Restless, The Duelist and Shadowless Sword being some of the more memorable movies. 9 out of 10 from me!