RolandCPhillips
I saw this much-hyped sequel against my better judgement. Having seen the original and some of Kang's other films, I knew it would probably be overlong and only intermittently entertaining. In this, I think I was proved right, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected.The first film diluted it's manic, almost psychotic, intensity with excessive length and a rather flat delivery. For all its beatings, asides on corruption and justice, monstrous acting, coal-black humour and over-heated atmosphere, it was too long and stymied further by a restricted, almost myopic visual style – plus too much shouty dialogue.This sequel shares many of the same problems. This cinematography is quite disappointing. Despite being shot by Kim Song-bok, who also shot the stylish, colourful Shiri and JSA, the production is restricted to offices, minimalist interiors and homes, all bathed in bland lighting; it is by no mean a dynamic visual spectacle. It lasts almost 150 (longer than the first film), and draws out what could have been an economical, punchy narrative with repetitive speeches on the nature of responsibility and the role of public servants. Worse still is the overall lack of aggression – this is positively tame in comparison to the original, with no chainsaws, knives or bricks in sight. The social commentary is also simplistic. Many of the issues raised and crimes pursued have world-wide relevance but the debate is terribly laboured and simplified here, and thus the film never takes on an epic dimension (which the films of Michael Mann do) despite the long running-time: there's precious little sense of a wider-world, or even a sense of South Korea on the international stage. At times, it resembles a dreary TV-legal drama.But for all that, I was gripped. The film takes a thoroughly old-fashioned approach to character distinction: prosecutor Chul-jung Kang is the good guy, a tough, utterly dedicated, incorruptible force for good, living a lonely bachelor's life in the pursuit of justice for the innocent, belying the long-hours, derision and low pay. Sang-woo Han is an absolute b**tard who'd kill his own brother, sell-off his father's charitable legacy and even drive-over elderly, well-meaning street-cleaners who tick him off for littering. He's the bad guy, and the friction between hero and villain makes for a tense match, that protracted dialogue cannot nullify.The film's meticulous attention to procedural detail and male camaraderie is also interesting. The male-melodrama that underlies so many Korean blockbusters (especially Kang's Silmido) is more engaging here, less forced and makes the prosecuting team quite endearing. The film peters out steadily towards the end, and like the first film the climatic showdown is slightly disappointing because it takes too long to come, only here its worsened by a weak, weak conclusion. That said, there are several other excellent action sequences: a ruck at the start between warring schools, some nasty collisions on the highway involving a motorbike gang, and a few more brutal beatings ordered by the chief baddie.And what a baddie: greedy, self-obsessed, un-patriotic, incredibly arrogant and happy to delegate all his wrong-doing and GBH to his lackeys, he still maintains that his is of noble blood, above all us proles. Just seeing the SOB get his dues made the experience worthwhile.
info-3486
I haven't seen many foreign films but a friend past along the Korean DVD to me and I have to say I am now a huge fan and plan to watch more. The two main actors were soo perfect opposite each other. Most Hollywood cop/bad guy films only care about the moments of fighting or action where this film is all about the actually fight between the two leads. It's kind of like watching an episode of Law & Order where you are presented the problem and go through the whole execution of busting the bad guy. That isn't to say that there aren't cool fight scenes, there is this huge one with like 40 guys fighting each other during a police bust which felt like a crazy martial arts film. I loved that. Oh and the have a lot of bikes in the film which i also love. I totally recommend this to someone who wants to see a smart Asian attempt at the police/crime genre!
Nh3
This movie is a very stereotypical police-gangster movie ambient ed in South-Korea. The characters act so childishly and everything is so simplistic that you can hardly believe it when you are watching it. When the protagonist is being "funny" he is just painful to watch. The rhythm is very, very slow, almost like a TV series and with few if any ellipsis. That's what makes the movie so incredibly LONG, I spent 2 and a half hours watching Koreans making bad jokes, many people in my screen didn't stand it all. The patriotic part when the protagonist says how proud he is his national team reached the semifinals in the world cup is shameful. I expected to see some martial arts but besides the spectacular beginning there's very little of it. Is not the kind of movie you hate, but, seriously, avoid it.
kevbee
First of all, let's get one thing straight. This film is in no way a follow-up to the excellent 'Public Enemy' film of a few years back. This mess of a film has a couple of good (but not great) action scenes and a whole warehouse of padding in-between. This movie lasts an incredible 148 minutes. The story could have been told in half the time. Kyung-gu Sol plays a public prosecutor with such lack of expression, it was hard to believe that he was the riveting star of the original film. His adversary is an old school pal called Han, played by Jun-ho Jeong who obviously learned his craft at some Victorian school of melodrama; such was the the sneering and lip curling that made up the core of his performance. It was as if he had 'Baddy' etched into his forehead. I was only sorry that he didn't sport a large curly moustache because he could have twirled that between his fingers magnificently. As the minutes limped by, I waited for the big finale. And waited. And waited. When it eventually came, it was the 2 lead blokes having a fist fight in a garden water feature. Good guy wins, bad guy goes to prison. Good guy says to bad guy as he steps on the prison bus: 'I'll see you in 20 years'. Roll credits. Not one of Korea's finest movie moments!
