The Divine Fury (Movie Review)

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

PLOT: An atheist MMA fighter has to rethink his views on religion when he is stricken with stigmata and meets an exorcist who is trying to stop an evil being called the Dark Bishop.

REVIEW: I'll admit that I went into this South Korean action-horror movie, which I knew would be about an MMA fighter teaming up with an exorcist to fight the forces of evil, with a fair amount of expectations in mind, but one thing I didn't expect the movie to do was tug on my heart strings in the first 15 minutes. Writer/director Joo-hwan Kim starts things off by giving us the tragic back story of the character who will become our hero, Yong-hoo Park. Raised by his deeply religious police officer father after his mother died in childbirth, Yong-hoo was told that God would answer his prayers if he just prayed hard enough. But when his dad was seriously injured in an encounter with a couple demons, Yong-hoo's prayers didn't work to save his life – which the kid realized when his father's spirit visited him to tell him to mind his grandma, who would be raising him from now on; to become a good person who will help others; and that he would always be by his side. This is when THE DIVINE FURY began to make me unexpectedly emotional.

Yong-hoo was so upset that his prayers didn't work to save his dad that he injured a priest with a cross and turned his back on religion. Jump ahead 20 years and we find that Yong-hoo (now played by Seo-joon Park) has become a professional MMA fighter who fights a little harder when his opponent is religious, driven by voices in his head that tell him to get revenge for his father and blame priests for his death… But soon a bleeding wound appears in the palm of Yong-hoo's right hand. It's a supernatural occurrence of stigmata, which forces him to face the idea that all the religious stuff he was raised on was true. He's surrounded by demons. And this stigmata in his palm proves to be very helpful with exorcising demons.

The scene that introduces Yong-hoo and the audience to the idea that his affliction is going to be a good thing is one of my favorites in the film, as he happens to seek the help of priest Father Ahn (Sung-Ki Ahn) while the man is in the middle of a tough exorcism that has sent another priest running for his life and nearly takes Ahn's life before Yong-hoo shows up. Yong-hoo immediately shows that he "ain't afraid of no demons" by knocking the possessed person around. Unfazed when the possessed person defies gravity and scurries (while upside down) up the side of a nearby scaffold, Yong-hoo just jumps up, grabs the demon-infested fellow by the hair, and tosses him down to the ground. It's a very cool moment for Yong-hoo.

As Yong-hoo comes to terms with his new demon-banishing abilities by hanging out with Ahn and accompanying him on other exorcisms, THE DIVINE FURY essentially plays like a horrific superhero origin story. A character has developed special powers and has to figure out how to master them so they can put them to use saving people through action sequences. There's even a diabolical supervillain in here, as it turns out that Yong-hoo and Ahn have so much demonic activity to deal with in Seoul because the city is the base of operations for an evil priest known as the Dark Bishop (Do-Hwan Woo), who is stirring up all this trouble with his rituals. And like many origin stories, it takes a while for THE DIVINE FURY to allow Yong-hoo to be the hero I was looking forward to seeing. 

Many viewers will probably be expecting Yong-hoo to use his fighting skills more often that he does – while the exorcisms he takes part in are entertaining to watch, he's not exactly kicking ass and busting heads like Blade in them. But don't worry, the movie will let him get closer to that level in time for the final confrontation with the Dark Bishop. That's when Yong-hoo finally becomes full-on superhero and wades into a battle with the Dark Bishop and his minions with his right fist engulfed in holy flame.

THE DIVINE FURY's 129 minute running time did wear on me a bit as I made my way through it, but it is a fairly eventful film overall and it's carried on the shoulders of the friendship and working relationship that develops between Yong-hoo and Father Ahn. Seo-joon Park and Sung-Ki Ahn both do great work in their roles, and it's enjoyable to spend time watching these characters hang out together, banter, and banish demons. I came to care for both of them, especially since I knew what Yong-hoo went through when he was a kid. There's a feeling that the movie isn't quite reaching its full potential for a large part of the 129 minutes, but it gets to that point at the same time Yong-hoo reaches his full potential.

While this wasn't the action-fest I was looking for, it is a well-crafted film that tells an interesting story and has a strong focus on its characters, who are brought to life by a pair of great actors. The horror element is very dark, there are some quite disturbing moments, and we are made to understand just how despicable the Dark Bishop is – because the more threatening the villain is and the more we care for the hero, the more we'll be invested in that climactic fight.

After watching that climactic fight, I'm left wanting to see more of Yong-hoo and his fiery fist in a sequel that will enable him to cut loose on demonic hordes more often. We've seen the origin, now bring on the all-out action.

Well Go USA is giving THE DIVINE FURY a theatrical release on August 16th. PRE ORDER THE BLU RAY HERE!