Official Synopsis:
The year is AD 924 and the United Shilla Dynasty is on the road to ruin. Riots are sweeping through the land and a corrupt government is on the verge of collapse. As murderous demons roam the land in search of helpless souls to devour, a brave hero named Yl Kwak rises to fight for the forces of light. As a child Yl Kwak realized that he had the power to see spirits. Now Yl Kwak's fiancée has been taken from him by the hell-spawn that threaten humanity, and the time has come to confront the darkness by venturing to its very point of origin. Upon arriving at the mysterious shrine that bridges the worlds of Heaven and Earth, a place where love transforms into legend, Yl Kwak boldly steps into another dimension - a frightening realm of fantasy from which he may never return. - AMG
  
Our Take:
There’s always a huge risk when going into an Asian action flick that you have heard absolutely no buzz about on the internet at all. There are just so many produced that they’re often times lacking in just about everything except flashy visuals; story and character development are often non-existent. All of that couldn’t be further from the truth in The Restless as it not only has some of the most breathtaking action sequences I’ve seen in this type of film but it actually has a story I was incredibly interested in and characters I cared about.

The story deals with good vs. evil, demons vs. spirits, hell vs. midheaven (which is what the film’s title literally translates to). Midheaven is a beautiful place where all good spirits are sent to rest; the only problem with that is that once they arrive there they lose all of their previous memories from the life they’ve just lived. Midheaven is where the bulk of the story takes place and it all starts when a man (our main character) is somehow transported there without ever dying. He is the only living spirit to ever visit midheaven and he becomes a sort of psuedo-celebrity for it.

Special features include:

* Making Of The Restless (52 minutes) – As you can guess from the run time this is an incredible feature and a must-watch for anyone interested in the filmmaking process.

* Reincarnation In 49 Days (12 minutes) – The director talks about his inspiration for the film and we get to see some production design.

* Production Design (12 minutes) – This actually focuses more on the CGI than production design.

Every single visual in this movie is fantastic. In truth, there is a lot to The Restless that reminds me of some of my favorite fantasy films such as Night Watch and Day Watch. There is animal morphing, bodies turning to ash when they are killed. There’s more than enough properly used CGI to enhance the battles in a good way, and the result is a terrific film.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Overall Picture:
Movie: A
DVD: B

- Landen Chase Pelish
Staff Writer