Untouchable Lawmen
(치외법권)
By Fabien Schneider
In order to capture the boss of a powerful criminal organization who has connections with the authorities, the special investigation section has called two agents with exceptional records. While Jung-in made his arms as a criminal profiler at the FBI, Yu-min graduated from one of the best academies but is now seen as a player with women. Of course, both of them will have to go past their differences to fulfil their mission.
In order to capture the boss of a powerful criminal organization who has connections with the authorities, the special investigation section has called two agents with exceptional records. While Jung-in made his arms as a criminal profiler at the FBI, Yu-min graduated from one of the best academies but is now seen as a player with women. Of course, both of them will have to go past their differences to fulfil their mission.
This new thriller comes at the worst possible : Ryoo Seung-wan’s Veteran is all the rage now and thus still topping the box-office, satisfying all the audience’s thirst for police stories. The screenwriting seems to be yet another take at the buddy film à la Lethal Weapon, so don’t expect much surprise. The cast is quite unusual for this genre: indeed, Im Chang-jung, who became famous as a comedy actor (Sex is Zero in 2002, Miracle on 1st Street in 2007) and ballad singer, wouldn’t be the first actor to pop in my mind had I been casting for someone to play a criminal profiler. I guess that everyone deserves to have their chance. It makes a bit more sense to see Daniel Choi as the freshman and playful cop, since he’s a top model. There must arguably be something in this pair that producers see fit for a thriller, since they had already played together in The Traffickers in 2012. The director, Sin Dong-yeob, debuted in 2004 with a rom-com, 100 Days with Mr. Arrogant, before taking a long hiatus. It’s only in 2012 that he came back with another rom-com, Wedding Scandal, and in 2013 he made his first try at the thriller genre with Days of Wrath. Despite its opening on around 450 screens, it will have a hard time convincing the audience, even without the unflattering comparison with Veteran. Reviews from both critics and audience are already showing disappointment.
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