So, after the Korean take on the zombie genre, we now get the big disaster popcorn movie. The basic plot is what you'd expect: Big Bad Thing happens, but Even Worse Thing will happen if the heroes and scientists can't save the day by a dangerous mission. Luckily, the movie still provides many of the factors that make Korean cinema so entertaining. There is almost effortlessly good character chemistry(an art big Hollywood flicks seems to have lost somewhere along the way). There are the big sentimental brush strokes. There is a brisk pace and some twists and turns, and the added factors of the US military, North Korea, and some marvelously sleazy Chinese add some complexity and real world problems apart from the volcano itself. The heroes are ragtag and humorously flawed(another fun factor Hollywood has done away with in the age of Dwayne Johnson chiseled supermen), and hurtle along as best they can without ever really being in control of the situation.

Now, being a popcorn flick it obviously won't reach the amazing heights that Korean arthouse cinema spoils us with. Most notably, there are some bits where the editing is a bit rough, and some transitions are so abrupt it's chuckle-worthy. And plot, as mentioned, does not stray too far from your usual disaster movie formula.

But those small flaws doesn't stop Ashfall from remaining entertaining throughout, and isn't that what a good action movie should do? Definitely worth a watch.

Although ostensibly a disaster film with an erupting volcano threatening to bring total destruction to the Korean peninsula, ASHFALL is very much a military thriller in which the volcano is merely there to give impetus to our characters. A top cast of talent sees Ha Jung-woo and Lee Byung-hun teaming up to go on a secret mission to retrieve a nuclear warhead and use it to blow up the volcano before it has a chance to erupt. They're aided on their mission by computer scientist Ma Dong-seok but they have various international powers after them too. The usual mix of humour, action, sentiment and suspense drives this one forcefully from beginning to end, and it's all entertaining in a crowd-pleasing way.

Volcanic eruptions on the Chinese-Korean border threaten to throw the entire Korean peninsula into tectonic upheaval. Professor Kang has an unlikely solution. Despite the low possibility of success and with total collapse in the North, the President in the South approves the plan. It requires freeing a prisoner inside North Korea, stealing nuclear weapons, and setting them off inside a mine underneath the volcano. Sure.

I like Jo In-chang to some extend but he and his team need to dial back some of their annoying fraidy cat over-acting. I do like the Lee Joon-Pyeong character but the distance between the two men should be closer. In-chang should tap into his inner "I'm too old for this sh14" and drop the pregnant wife story. I don't mind the ridiculous The Rock action flick but unlike those movies, this one relies on some wrong sensitive politics and some bad characterizations. Instead of this outlandish caper, it would be easier to ask the Americans for help or even the Chinese. The movie should allow the Americans to be total A-holes before moving onto the stupid quest. As for the Chinese, the movie needs to specify clearly that those are criminal triads. The Chinese government already has nukes and they don't need NK nukes. Criminals would want the nukes to sell to the highest bidders. The Americans should target the nukes. They don't want loose nukes out there. That's where the South Koreans should run into them. The two groups would surprise each other with competing agendas at the nuclear storage site. I'm good with the ridiculous action but the bad politics makes no sense. I would also change In-chang and his group. They start out like one of those comedic incompetent squad of soldiers and that's not the right tone. Maybe I missed the comedy in this.