Volcano High

The perfect Harry Potter antidote, this comic-derived action fantasy imagines a 108-year-old high school for the magically and martially adept, fills it with colourful stereotypes and lets rip with the digital effects. Dyed-blonde Kim Kyung-Soo (Jang) has been expelled from eight previous schools for failing to keep his awesome powers under control; he arrives at Volcano High - his last-chance saloon - and finds himself facing the power-hungry Dark Oxen gang, top supernatural fighter Song, a tough-but-righteous women's kendo team, and a principal nicknamed Cold-Blooded Venom who is the current guardian of the secret manuscript that can end the chaos. Hong Kong film-makers used to do this kind of stuff with their eyes closed; Kim's advantage is that he does it with both eyes open, one of them focused on a script with enough structural integrity and dramatic impact to shame both Tsui Hark's Zu movies put together. A shortened 'international version' is reportedly on the way.