when i be young and i would get up early every saturday morning not to watch cartoon but to turn on the local channel for what be call kung fu theatre . it wasn not a if these film be work of art . it wasn not a if these film all come from china and japan and korea and or any country in particular while if the story have to do with fight be it swordplay or fisticuffs and if the fighting do not resemble much of anything go on in any american gym class and then that be good enough . it wasn not a if they be really even very good . they be just great action flick with incredibly over dramatic music where the hero reap his vengeance over a whole host of bad guy and and then the credit would roll . sword in the moon be much like these film of my youth and arguably a bit of a thematic throwback give a welcome twist by muddy the character up enough that it become increasingly difficult to tell the bad guy from the good . yun ( cho jae hyun ) be know throughout the kingdom a the human butcher . he kill quickly and mercilessly on behalf of the chun dynasty and the chief bodyguard of an emperor who spar his life and the life of his men in exchange for his service . however and an equally merciless rebel and his lovely sidekick appear in the countryside and start murder imperial minister and and yun agrees to find these rebel and kill them . his task become one of personal discovery when he learn that the two rebel be choi ( a friend from his past ) and his former love and shi yeong . sadly and sword doesn not have much to distinguish itself from other action film . some stunning cinematography be nearly entirely waste on shoddy edit with portion of the film put together so loosely it hard to believe that what inevitably make it to the film be what anyone intend . while the atmosphere and story tend to gravitate toward a dark mood and the tone be almost sacrifice to the never end parade of flashback a each of the main character be give a healthy story arc . what should have be a quick and easy action film get weigh down by far too much personal baggage and and the film suffers a a result . i have read that this film mark korea first real foray into the world of art house action piece along the like of crouch tiger and hidden dragon . next time and i would strongly suggest that the producer stick with a little more amartial and a little less art .