The journey from screenplay to production has admittedly been a circuitous journey for ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’. Originally intended as a sequel production for screenwriter Chun Sung Il ( ‘ Your Honor’, ‘ All Of Us Are Dead’)’s original screenplay ‘ The Pirates’ (2014), the severe impact of production problems were certainly evident onscreen.

Naturally to understand the root cause of some of the problems with ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ it is important to elucidate that the movie suffered a lot throughout its production.

A notable change of director from Lee Seok-hoon ( ‘ Dancing Queen’, ‘ The Himalayas’ ) to Kim Jung Hoon ( ‘ Petty Romance’, ‘ The Accidental Detective), original stars Son Ye-jin (‘ Crash Landing On You’, ‘ Personal Taste’ and ‘ Something In The Rain’) and Kim Nam-gil ( ‘ Bad Guy’, ‘ Live Up To Your Name’ and ‘ Fiery Priest’) abandoning ship alongside pandemic-induced delays did spell-out a lot of problems for Sung II’s production.

As a consequence of these contributions, ‘The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’ focused upon an entirely different setup from the first movie. Set in the late 14th century in the early Joseon period, the narrative focuses upon female pirate captain Hae-rang (Han Hyo-joo- ‘ Iljimae’, ‘ W’ and ‘ Happiness’).

After coming into possession of a mysterious treasure map, Hae-rang becomes fixated upon the notion that the hidden treasure was gold sourced from the royal palace and then lost at sea. However Hae-rang is not the only one obsessed over the promise of luxurious valuables . On board her ship is a cadre of bandits, led by ringleader Wu Mu-chi (Kang Ha-neul- ‘ Monstar’, ‘ Misaeng: Incomplete Life’ and ‘ When The Camellia Blooms’).

The self-proclaimed “ Greatest Swordsman in Goryeo”, Mu-Chi begins his schemes in order to launch a coup and take over the ship.

Nevertheless when unwelcome rival Boo Heung Soo ( Kwon Sang Woo- ‘ My Tutor Friend’, ‘ Stairway To Heaven’ and ‘ Queen Of Mystery’) arrives on the scene with a keen interest in competing for the treasure, Mu-Chi and Hae-rang may just be forced into an allegiance of sorts, as betrayals and twists soon come their way…

One of the most problems with ‘The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ came through its script. As mentioned previously, the production was naturally caught in a rut after Chung Sung II was forced to rewrite parts, recast and subvert the storyline in a very short space of time.

However whilst certain excuses can be given for the film’s troubling filming and writing schedule , it’s hard to truly justify the film’s unmodified and particularly cataclysmic opening act. A barrage of rushed character introductions, predictable betrayals, sudden flashbacks and dream sequences are crammed forcefully into a very short space of time .

Indeed, instead of spreading out the narrative and allowing the structure of the film to feel circumstantial and well-paced, ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ admittedly felt somewhat disorientating and chaotic in its first half.
The second-act admittedly was less anarchic and did allow some opportunities in order to tie together a form of coherent plot, but still due to the poor buildup and structure of the movie, the final act of ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ was somewhat risible.

Of course it’s wrong it’s wrong to entirely suggest that ‘ ‘The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ wasn’t an enjoyable movie at times. Whilst it’s gnawing inconsistencies of pacing and writing were evident, ‘The Pirates: The Last Treasure’ was still fast-paced, entertaining and adrenal-infused with its swashbuckling bravado and overindulgent CGI.

Then of course there’s our main cast. Aside from some inconsistent acting moments at times in ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’, Han Hyo-joo was fairly solid as main female lead Hae-rang, whilst costars Kang Ha-Neul and Kwon Sang Woo were fairly decent also.

On the other amongst the jam-packed action of ‘ The Pirates: The Last Treasure’, the array of characters onscreen felt often vacuous. Absent opportunities in order to explore or flesh out characters, in particular how a young woman became a pirate captain, was rarely developed beyond its surface level plot hook.

As for the cinematography, ‘ The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’ offered viewers with a high-budget bonanza under the directing reigns of Kim Jung Hoon. The overall product glossy but often heavily indulging upon CGI en masse without a greater focus on shots or the art of capturing the characters in more subtle detail. The OST is an odd accumulation of tremendous scores, alongside upbeat modern bops; a surreal mixture which whilst working effectively in parts, could feel somewhat out of place in other scenes.

‘The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’ attempted to offer viewers with a fun and action-engaged plot throughout its 126-minute duration. Nevertheless, despite some engaging performances by our main cast and some fast-paced action sequences , ‘ The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure: often felt as though it was a chaotic bricolage of poor-pacing, story direction and enforced tropes .

For those willing to overlook the flaws of ‘ The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure’, the movie offered viewers with a disorderly swashbuckling adventure filled with daring laughs and fight scenes as well as hare-brained escapades along the way…