Ashfall is aptly named. There's plenty of fallen ash to spare. Everything is carpeted in ash. It doesn't take this movie 5 minutes before we're off and racing against time to stop an earthquake that will be cataclysmic. Don Lee (Ma Dong Suk.. one day I'll get used to his Korean name...maybe) plays Professor Robert Kang or Kang Bong Rae who had been warning the powers that be for 3 years that a devastating series of earthquakes were coming and that they would initiate the eruption of the dormant Mt. Baekdu. Of course no one listened until after the fact and enlists the doctor to come up with a plan to stop them, which, of course, he already had. The problem is it has a small rate of success. Even so, Captain Jo In Chang (Ha Jung Woo) and his team are sent to obtain the nuclear bombs from North Korea. Their biggest obstacle is the man they have to enlist to help them. Lee Byung Hun plays Lee Jun Pyeong, the obstacle.

The story sounds interesting enough, but it wasn't. There was very little tension, especially in the scenes where there should have been suspense. In very many scenes Capt. Jo seemed like comic relief as opposed to the hero. As the brains behind the operation , Dr. Kang should have had more dramatic scenes or at least more interesting ones. The action scenes were good, but they were a dime a dozen. Nothing new. Just when you think something big was about the happen, they skip to another scene. Basically, you see the beginning of an action and the aftermath, but not the actual action itself. There's also some blaring continuity issues. I feel the need to explain myself so here is a Spoiler: Suzy, who plays Capt. Jo's wife, is stuck in a car on a bridge when a tidal wave hits. The next scene you see her floating in the river. Huh? When did the car get knocked into the river? How did she get out of the car? What happened to all the people who were running? Next thing you know Suzy's bone dry hailing a bus. Her purse and paperwork are pristine. That's some kind of paper and ink! Oh, did I mention her character is in her last trimester of pregnancy? So, yeah, we have a VERY pregnant woman, stuck in a car that was apparently knocked into the Han River where she escapes and I guess swims ashore. She then somehow makes it on time to the road where she hails a bus with paperwork that's not wet. Yup. End Spoiler The pacing of the movie is off. Too fast at some points and too slow at others.

The acting was good. The actors did their best with what they were given. I think many scenes or character interactions were supposed to be funny or at least humorous, but they weren't. It's a really good cast with a fairly poor script.

I don't think the music was good. The music in an action movie is to aid in the suspense and anticipation. The music in Ashfall did none of that. I may not be big on re-watching dramas, but I'll re-watch a good movie over and over. I have no need to ever re-watch this movie.

I wouldn't recommend Ashfall to anyone. Great cast. Great EFx. Good premise. Poor script and direction.