THE
DIVINE FURY (2019)
Starring
Park Seo-joon, Ahn Sung-ki, Woo Do-hwan, Choi Woo-shik. Directed by
Joo-hwan Kim. (129 min)
ON
BLU-RAY FROM WELL GO USA
Review
by Josey, the Sudden Cat😸
A
mixed martial artist with a grudge against God teams up with a
seasoned old exorcist to vanquish demons from people who’ve become
possessed.
If
that brief synopsis doesn’t get you purring, you might as well stop
reading.
For
everyone else, The Divine Fury is an entertaining
action/horror mash-up. Celebrity MMA fighter Yong-hu (Park Seo-joon) certainly has a good
reason to resent the Almighty. When he was a boy, his policeman
father was killed in the line of duty, despite a priest’s promise
that God would hear his prayers. Now the very sight of a crucifix
enrages him, exacerbated by verbal torment from the same demon that killed
dad. He also develops a wound on his hand that won’t heal.
When
medical science fails, Yong-hu is encouraged to visit Father Ahn (Ahn
Sung-ki), a local exorcist who informs him the wound is stigmata,
like those inflicted on Jesus during the crucifixion. It also
turns out to be a handy weapon when fighting demons (as do Yong-hu’s
fighting skills). After more-or-less saving each other, Yong-hu and
Ahn form a holy hit squad and stay busy performing exorcisms
all over town. But before we can assume demonic possession is simply
more common in Korea than it was in Georgetown, they learn the culprit behind
the outbreak is Ji-shin (Woo Do-Hwan), also known as the Dark Bishop,
who moonlights as a nightclub owner while feeding souls to satanic tadpoles (!) in exchange for eternal life.
 |
| "Talk to the hand, Father." |
Though
frequently quite funny – often intentionally – The Divine
Fury more-or-less plays the material straight, which works to its
ultimate benefit. It’s never particularly scary, but the exorcism
sequences are suitably intense, as are the numerous fight scenes
(most of which occur during the final act). Everything culminates
with a bonkers climax pitting Yong-hu against Ji-shin in an
elaborate, effects-driven showdown.
Speaking
of which, the film utilizes a lot of CGI to create a majority of the visuals. For the most part, they serve the story pretty well
without becoming a distraction. The real surprise is the relationship
between the two leads. Ahn develops into the father figure Yong-hu
has been missing most of his life, and how they learn to depend on
each other ends up being the most engaging aspect of the entire film
Though
a little overlong, The Divine Fury is a fun action-horror
hybrid with enough blood, fists and devilry to amuse fans of both
genres. It isn’t quite as ridiculous as the premise suggests, but
don’t we get enough of that stuff from The Asylum, anyway?
Writer-director Joo-hwan Kim borrows a lot of familiar possession tropes, but wisely plays them straight and gives us
characters we genuinely care about. He also leaves the door wide open
for a sequel, which in-this-case might be welcome.
EXTRA
KIBBLES
5
PROMOTIONAL FEATURETTES
4
TRAILERS
DVD
COPY
KITTY CONSENSUS:
PURR-R-R...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS.
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