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If you are looking for a pirate adventure film to binge on that doesn’t look down upon its female characters in the name of being a period film, The Pirates 2, is a good choice but only to a certain point.
Despite a strong start, the film’s plot ultimately regresses to the age-old concept of stereotyping its female characters and limiting them to a sexist portrayal.
The Pirates 2 leaves a lot to be desired
An explosive first half devoid of sexism
Throughout the entirety of The Pirates 2, there is never a single dialog stressing or calling out the fact that Hae-rang (Han Hyo-joo), a woman, is the captain of pirates. It doesn't blather on how impressive she is for helming a rag-tag band of unruly men as a woman.
The occurrence is never treated as something unusual, as it paints a world where someone’s skills or the level of respect they deserve doesn’t depend on their respective gender.
In the first half of the film, Hae-rang is an intrepid character who knows how to protect herself and her crew. She doesn't shy away from airing her opinions, doesn’t wait for others to come to her rescue or hide her true personality; tropes that female characters are majorly typecast as in films and dramas.
Those conspiring against her are not seen boasting about how they will bring down a woman; she is seen as a worthy enemy. Mak-yi (Lee Kwang-soo) betrays her, not because he doesn’t want to be guided by a woman but because he is a greedy and self-serving individual.
No one considers her a weakling based on her gender, or at least no one apart from the film’s stereotypical conclusion.
The disappointing second half
While Han Hyo-joo reigned in the film’s promotional material, especially the social media posts which almost always focused on her lead character, Hae-rang in the film is reduced to a simpering lady in love.
Though no one is against the notion of love per say, the bothersome aspect is that it turns a confident and self-reliant woman into someone who has only one job, take care of her man and appear good for him.
Despite being the leader and an exceptional fighter, Hae-rang ends up sitting out the fight in The Pirates 2’s conclusion when she readily agrees to let Moo-chi go to the mountain top alone. Even if we factor love into this equation, she should have joined him and shouldn’t have let him risk his life alone.
But it looks like the script could only have one knight in shining armor and it had to be the male protagonist while it became paramount that the female lead did nothing but wait for her hero.
Though the film does redeem itself by allowing her to fight Heung-soo’s (Kwan Sang-woo) men, she is once again not enough to save herself and her people as the cowardly Mak-yi comes to their rescue.
At least Hae-rang manages to get her moments even though the story keeps trying to turn the spotlight on Moo-chi. Sadly, Hae-gum (Chae Soo-bin), the only other female character in The Pirates 2, isn’t offered the same facility.
She is purely stereotypical, acting desperate and coy to get Han-goong (EXO’s Sehun) attention. Coupled with that, she is greedy for jewelry and needs help in every second scene as she is too fickle to even try to put up a fight.
The Pirates 2 is fun and deserves its success, there is no denying that, but we would have loved it more if it hadn’t been hypocritical of the parameters of its own storyline.
