In 1375 China, the new Ming dynasty is still troubled by the previous Mongol Yuan rulers. Ancient Korea sends a group of soldiers and delegates to make peace with the new empire, but they are mistakenly deemed to be spies and sent into exile in the desert. During the march, Yuan soldiers ambush the group, killing the Ming but sparing the Koreans. The group is left stranded in the desert without any leadership, their mission a failure. When they discover the Yuan are holding a Ming princess captive, the Koreans decide to save the princess and return her to the Ming so they can redeem the relationship between Korea and China and get home safely.
A composition of stark yellow and golden hues with an epic score, Musa sets out to engulf the viewer in the hopeless desert mission of a mired, ragtag group of travelers—and the film succeeds, on a technical front, with sprawling, yet simple locations and frenzied, immersive battles. The film makes use of its record-breaking budget and Kim Hyung-ku’s striking cinematography to tell a gritty story in a desert location usually reserved for stylized wu-xia. Viewers will be reminded of The Hidden Fortress, Lawrence of Arabia, and Gladiator as they journey alongside the group, bearing witness to the struggles of a small group on an impossible odyssey to return home.
But despite the film’s aesthetic successes, the plot is overly simple and the characters, unsympathetic. Most events usually involve the outnumbered Koreans either fleeing from the Yuan army or fighting them—and aside from a few characters, most of the cast simply serves as fodder for each battle.
However, the four leads do offer some drama through power struggles and love triangles. Jung Woo-sung plays a skilled spearman slave, who is set free by his dying master on the journey. Yet despite his remarkable fighting skill (which result in a number of stylish gory showdowns chock full of beheadings), he is still scorned by the rest of the group. Zhang Ziyi fills the princess role, exhibiting the same sort of stubbornness from Crouching Tiger and of course, the inevitable shift to humility. She makes eyes at the slave, while a stubborn general played by Ju Jin-mo falls for her. He puts in a strong performance with some dimension, especially when he is threatened by a low-ranking archer played by Ahn Sung-kee, who may be the better choice for the leadership role.
The inner conflicts are definitely interesting, but there are noticeable contrivances and stock characters that render it difficult to truly care for what happens. With such a long running time, it is odd that the treatment of characters is sometimes as bare as the landscape. Still, Musa is quite pretty to look at and has its fair share of moments—some may simply find it the lacks heart to match its budget and turn the film into the satisfying experience it should be.
Reviewed by Tarun
