A solid watch

Officer Black Belt, billed as an action comedy, is the latest in Netflix catalogue of movies from South Korea. It follows the 'adventures' of a martial arts - sports enthusiast as he volunteers for a position on the parole officers team.
Clocking in just under two hours, the movie aims to be a coming-of-age story covering a fair bit of ground as the protagonist matures over the course of a few weeks on the job. It is medium paced with very few boring or dragging sequences and the earnest performances by the cast - including the bad guys - hold the viewers attention admirably.

I'll start with the bad with is not too many
1. The screenplay is a little immature. The bad guys are purely evil and the good guys are completely good. There are no grey characters.
2. Our hero is an epitome of all values - best friend, honest worker, upright citizen, filial son, never doubts himself or others, eminently likable etc etc. The only slight 'flaw' - if you can even call it that - is that he wants his job to 'fun' but this quirk is written out very quickly.
3. Lee Jung Do looks a little old for the part - keeping the ages of his friends in mind he should probably be in early-mid twenties but he looks older. And you start to question why this older dude is living with his dad and having his dad prepare meals for him.
4. The tone of the movie shifts from goofy, cute, buddy cop story to dark quite suddenly. In the second half the movie is darker and then abruptly there's a goofy sequence where the hero's friends buy equipment.
5. The bad guy is 'boss - like' invincible. He just doesnt die or even break after a savage beating. After a point, it gets annoying to see the protagonist unable to prevail during the fights.
6. Some might find the action sequences to be a little longer than necessary - I did. There are four major fight sequences. At least 5-6 mins could have been cut down to reduce viewer fatigue.
7. Keeping the subject in mind, I would not classify it as a comedy though there are a few light-hearted scenes. Dont go in expecting to laugh.

The good
1. The movie has its heart in the right place. it tackles the very serious issue of law enforcement unable to 'act' against paedophiles, quite hampered by the laws. This is probably the same situation in most countries around the world and you can feel the frustration of the characters when they are helpless.
2. It never gets into 'exploitation' by having gratuitous scenes of sexual assault. There is one sequence but it is filmed well, so the character was never even in the same frame as the other guys. The movie makes you uncomfortable but to provoke righteous anger not titillate.
3. There is no romance forced in. It would have been completely out of place given the story.
4. For an action movie the action takes a while to start. On the bright side, when it does, it is brutal. The scenes are shot well.
5. Everyone has performed acted very well. Lee Jung Do could have been corny but he comes across as likable and reliable, the sort of guy you'd want to be best friends with. Lee Hyun Kul is one of the scariest characters on-screen at the moment, a proper evil character. He did so well, that I felt bad for him to have to play the villain.

In all it is a solid watch and will stay with you for some time.

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