I, The Executioner
辣手警探：火爆裁决
Rating
NC16 Some Coarse Language and Violence些许粗俗语言及暴力画面
Language
Korean with English & Chinese subtitles
Cast
Hwang Jung-min, Jung Hae-in
Synopsis
Detective Seo Do-cheol (HWANG Jung-min) and his Major Crime Investigation Division tirelessly track down criminals day and night, often at the expense of their personal lives.
When the murder of a professor reveals links to past cases, suspicions of a serial killer arise, plunging the country into turmoil. As Major Crimes delves into the investigation, the killer taunts them by publicly releasing a teaser online, indicating the next victim, and intensifying the chaos.
To tackle the escalating threat, the team brings in idealistic rookie officer Park Sun-woo (JUNG Hae-in), leading to unexpected twists in the case's trajectory.
Reviews
By InCinemas 30 Oct 2024
An adrenaline-pumping 118 minutes of non-stop action that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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Co-written, directed and produced by Ryoo Seung-wan, I, The Executioner is a crime-action sequel to the 2015 film Veteran, with Hwang Jung-min reprising his role as Detective Seo Do-cheol from the Violent Crime Unit, with Jung Hae-In as a rookie officer. They are accompanied by a strong line-up of supporting cast consisting of Oh Da-su, Jang Yoon-ju, Oh Dae-hwan, Kim Shi-hoo, Shin Seung-hwan, Seo woo-jin, Jin Kyung and Ahn Bo-Hyun.
In the opening scene, we see a group of excited ladies being led to a make-shift casino. As the camera weaves in and out, we realise that a sting operation is taking place to nab the head of the illegal gambling operation, and Miss Bong Yun-ju (Yoon-ju) is in disguise as one of the female patrons. Her winning streak at the table soon gains the group an invitation to join the VIP area on the higher floor. However, things take a comic turn when the operation goes south with the discovery of Miss Bong’s camera brooch. Mayhem ensues with an amusing action scene when Detective Seo and his team swoop in for the arrest. The fight scene in the rain on the rooftop is both exciting and realistic, and is clearly a joy to watch as we see the good guys fall and slip after missing a kick but getting back up.
Soon the film takes on a more serious tone, when the possibility of a professor’s death is linked to a series of vigilante murders in which criminal perpetrators are killed in a way that mirrors their own brutal past crimes. The mysterious vigilante is nicknamed “Haechi” after the mythical lion-esque creature in Chinese and Korean folklore that judges sinful people. As Detective Seo and team race to piece together the clues and evidence to find the serial vigilante killer using a recently released lowlife criminal, Jeo (Man-sik) as bait, the killer taunts the police by releasing a video online teasing his next kill, driving the public into frenzy.
Chaos reigns as the public's opinions are swayed by those on the internet, and hero-worship running rampant. To make matter worse, a famous YouTuber helps feed Haechi’s popularity with increasingly heated rhetoric which drives the public’s frenzy in support of his punishment of criminals who slip through the justice system (i.e., getting away with their crimes entirely or partially). He capitalises on financial gains for his channel as he streams videos to sensationalize the vigilante’s action as the people’s hero. As Haechi stirs the city into a frenzy and acts of mob justice tearing the town apart, Detective Seo must reckon with how his style of police work has also inadvertently helped forge the culture of violence.
On the home front, Detective Seo is also juggling the demands of fatherhood while struggling with the moral and emotional toll of his profession. More often, he has to prioritises his work on the Haechi case over his duties as a father to help his son who begins to emulate the violent behaviour he observes at school, creating a growing rift between father and son.
Amidst the turmoil of investigating the murders and protecting the next target, a paroled thug who has served his sentence, the unit enlists rookie detective, Park Sun-woo (Hae-in). Dubbed as the “UFC policeman” online sensation for his incredible fighting skills and aggressive takedowns which frequently crosses the line, he soon catches Detective Seo’s attention. Detective Seo eventually takes Park under his wings.
Park appears to be obsessed with the detective and the film begins to drop subtle hints towards Park’s involvement with “Haechi”. This obsession grows more intriguing as the film progresses. Is this a skilfully placed red herring within the film? This development keeps the audience vacillating on Haechi’s identity. Is the killer the overzealous policeman or the masked man who came to meet his fans and live-streamed by the YouTuber? Or Min Kang-hoo (Bo-hyun), the enraged man who sank into drugs and depression after suffering the loss of his girlfriend to a gang of bikers?
Can Detective Seo and his team catch Haechi before more vigilante killing take place? Go catch this sequel with 118 minutes of non-stop action which will keep you on the edge. You will hold your breath at the nail-biting climatic ending where the good guys are pitted against Haechi while having to save multiple potential victims at the same time.
The dynamic and explosive fight scenes throughout the film are well-choregraphed but realistic with just the right touch of comic moments, similar to the successful action-packed franchise of Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. I only wish that the audience was better able to understand the character development behind the antagonist. Nevertheless, the excellent action and brisk pace of the film more than make up for this.
Great performances all round from the cast – Jung-min as the aging detective is subdued but effective in dispatching his bloody brand of justice, and Hae-in as a young rookie eager to prove but wildly consumed with desire to melt punishment on deserving criminals. The latter carries most of the heavy action scenes, including a whole fight down the stairway which is nothing short of fantastic.
We cannot wait till the next adrenaline pumping instalment of Detective Seo and his team! Let’s hope the action-genre fans do not have to wait another 9 years to enjoy the next stylish action masterpiece by Ryoo Seung-wan.
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