''The Pirates'' (; lit. "Pirates: Bandits Going to the Sea") is a 2014 South Korean period adventure film starring Son Ye-jin and

Kim Nam-gil Kim Nam-gil () is a South Korean actor, producer, director, singer and philanthropist. He is best known from leading roles in disaster blockbuster ''Pandora'' (2016); crime thriller '' Memoir of a Murderer '' (2017); adventure film '' The Pirate ...

. A standalone sequel, titled '' The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure'', was released in theaters on January 26, 2022.

Plot

On the eve of the founding of the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

, a whale swallows the Ming Emperor's Seal of State being brought to Joseon by envoys from China. With a big reward on whoever brings back the royal seal, mountain bandits led by Jang Sa-jung go out to sea to hunt down the whale. But he soon clashes with Yeo-wol, a female captain of pirates, and unexpected adventure unfolds.

Cast

Main characters

* Son Ye-jin as Yeo-wol **Lee Do-yeon as young Yeo-wol *

as Jang Sa-jung

Pirates

* Lee Geung-young as So-ma * Shin Jung-geun as Yong-gap *

Choi Sulli Choi Jin-ri (March 29, 1994 – October 13 or 14, 2019), better known by her stage name Sulli (), was a South Korean actress and singer. She first made her debut as a child actress, appearing as a supporting cast member on the SBS historical d ...

as Heuk-myo * Lee Yi-kyung as Cham-bok *Kim Kyeong-sik as Subforeman

Bandits

* Yoo Hae-jin as Chul-bong *

Kim Won-hae Kim Won-hae (born April 6, 1969) is a South Korean actor. He is best known as a former cast member of '' SNL Korea'' (season 1–4). Personal life In August 2020, it was reported that Kim tested positive for COVID-19 and was receiving treatme ...

as Choon-seop * Park Chul-min as Monk *Jo Dal-hwan as San-man *Kim Won-joong as Catfish *Song Yong-ho as Snakehead *Moon Seong-bok as Eel *Jeon Won-gyu as Pine cone *Lee Jae-ho as Cudgel *Kim Jae-hak as Straw

Joseon officials

* Kim Tae-woo as Mo Heung-gap * Oh Dal-su as Han Sang-jil * Jo Hee-bong as Oh Man-ho *Jung Sung-hwa as Park Mo * Ahn Nae-sang as Jeong Do-jeon * Lee Dae-yeon as Yi Seong-gye

Other characters

* Jeon Bae-soo as Baek Seon-gi * Park Hae-soo as Hwang Joong-geun *Lee Gyu-ho as Mool-gom *

Kim Ian Kim Ian () (born Kim Bo-ryung on March 28, 1987) is a South Korean actor and singer. Career Kim can play the clarinet and his hobbies include soccer, Taekwondo, the saxophone, and piano. Kim made his first appearance in f(x)'s endorsement of ...

as Baek Chi

Release

Domestic

''The Pirates'' sold 272,858 tickets during its first two days of release, placing second on the box office chart behind '' The Admiral: Roaring Currents''. After 17 days in theaters, it became the third Korean film in 2014 to reach 5 million admissions. At the end of its run, the film reached 8,665,269 admissions, and also grossed .

International

Lotte Entertainment Lotte Cultureworks ( ko, 롯데 컬처웍스), formerly known as Lotte Entertainment ( ko, 롯데 엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean film production and distribution company. Established in the Republic of Korea, the company has distributed fi ...

pre-sold ''The Pirates'' to 15 countries at the 2014 Cannes Film Market.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics and currently holds a 57% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. Martin Tsai of ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' described the film as a "derivative trove of swashbuckling action, romance, comedy, special effects and revisionist history" which contains typical Hollywood devices, while Nicolas Rapold of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' notes that "Neither the action nor the comedy in this action comedy is consistently strong." Frank Scheck of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' criticizes the film for its "endless slapstick fight scenes" and the film's special effects but praised the underwater scenes with the whales which he says have a "hauntingly ethereal quality."

Sequel

A sequel of the film titled as '' The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure'', directed by Kim Jeong-hoon, produced with new cast of

Kang Ha-neul Kang Ha-neul (born Kim Ha-neul on February 21, 1990) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in television dramas ''The Heirs'' (2013), '' Misaeng: Incomplete Life (2014)'', '' Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo'' (2016), '' When t ...

and

Han Hyo-joo Han Hyo-joo (Korean: 한효주; born February 22, 1987) is a South Korean film and television actress, model and singer. She is best known for her leading roles in television series such as ''Heaven & Earth'' (2007), ''Iljimae'' (2008), '' Brill ...

was released on January 26, 2022 by

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
''The Pirates''
at

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirates, The (film) 2014 films 2010s action adventure films South Korean action adventure films Films set in the Joseon dynasty Lotte Entertainment films Films directed by Lee Seok-hoon Pirate films South Korean historical adventure films 2010s historical adventure films 2010s Korean-language films 2010s South Korean films