Written by Jesus Figueroa
@ThisFunktional
The original concept of DEMON DANCER: SUA/NARA makes this fantasy story better than just another action film with the supernatural thrown in.
DEMON DANCER opens with an intense action sequence where Sua - a Korean ballerina - is beaten to the edge of death. As her life fades, her memories crash in, and the story unfolds in flashes, jumping back in time to reveal how she reached this moment. We learn she was forced to kill her husband to save his soul from a demonic curse. Desperate for justice, she places the same curse on herself and lets the demon Nara in. Now two souls sharing one body, they learn to fuse ballet with demonic power and set out to uncover who cursed Sua's husband - and why. In the end, Sua must decide: will she wake and fight, or stay lost in the comfort of her memories and fade away?
A semi complex story line, gets made easy to follow by mixing flashback story structure into a developing story.
The main protagonists, Sua played by Jiyeeon Han and Nara played by Anita Korosi, combine well together to create a flow between a graceful ballerina and a martial arts demon.
The audience gets the opportunity to get the background story of Sua as well as the way Nara was able to teach how to combine the demon powers.
Han is a good actress who was able to portray a powerful martial artists with grace.
Korosi contrasted Han with a more menacing portrayal of demon.
Pro:
The choreography was fantastic with practical fighting and intertwined ballet moves to be able to seamlessly create the visuals of two styles coming together.
From fight sequence to fight sequence the moves stayed in the same style but the stakes increased which kept making each sequence more impressive.
The story structure was key because it helped the audience know how Sua got to where she did and made the decisions she eventually had to. The flashback scenes came together well and supported the story throughout.
The story originality was wonderful. Anime elements made it feel familiar, but having a story where demonic possession is not only what the protagonist chooses, but a tool that she learns to use to her advantage was refreshing to see.
Cons:
With the anime inspiration, an element of cartoonish nature made the special effects less than stellar. While it is clear where the intentions of the special effect weapons were meant to go, it felt lacking after seeing how well done the choreography was and the visual style the film took.
Going into the climactic fight, the intensity seemed to waver slightly, but the story that emerged as the climactic fight occurred made for the desire of wanting more of this story.
Over all this film is a 8 out of 10 rating. With good fight sequences, good story, well presented, and well casted actors the minor special effects does not hinder this from being a good watch. I watched the film on my own at home and some scenes I felt could have been good to watch on a bigger screen with people.
 |
The film features a fight sequence staged inside a real, descending car elevator, performed practically without VFX. The sequence was created in collaboration with Gui-Duck Kwon, the Blue Dragon Award-winning action choreographer whose credits include The Villainess and Carter
Cast: Jiyeon Han, Anita Korosi, Joseph Kim, Jungchal Jun, Shinyoung Moon
Director/Producer: Attila Korosi
