Veteran - Above the Law

With a summer filled with less than mediocre domestic films busting blocks in box office we get a quality entertainment from director Ryu Seung-Wan. This is not an entirely original film but Ryu packs it with enough real life relevance and intrigue in the plot to keep the audience thoroughly entertained.

The plot which has the same structure as "The Public Enemy" series, very popular and also from Korea, follows a hardboiled cop trying to take down a psychotic rich kid after his acquaintance ends up in hospital. Both parties do what they do best. One follows leads and the other does whatever it takes cover it up.

As mentioned above, the film's action scenes and its general tone (comic reliefs, charismatic yet evil rich baddies) are very similar to Public Enemy series. However the story is more focused here with director Ryu's confidence in his own style.

The entire cast turns in solid performances but the standout is Ah In Yoo, making a real nasty playboy who can convincingly smirk and get under your skin. Also worth mentioning is Hae Jin Yoo who's presence in a film almost always indicate solid performances. He plays a man who needs to juggle around running the company and keeping the young maniac under control. In its final action sequence, fans of Korean cinema will chuckle at a familiar face making a goofy cameo.

So far Ryu hasn't made a single film that wasn't worth the admission price. Sure, his film can come off cheesy at times but they were never boring. Ryu's style can also compensate for not entirely original plots in films like "Veteran" and "Berlin Files". A great success in box office, this film will pretty much guarantee the director to make any film he wants to make next. Anything he makes, I'll be first in line.

Veteran initially comes off as a typical, if still very good, action comedy in which we're introduced to Seo Do-cheol, a skilled detective who is in the process of busting up a car smuggling ring. In the first ten minutes we get both plenty of comedy and action as Do-cheol and his fellow officers show themselves as more grounded and relatable, despite Do-cheol's excellent martial arts skills. While we do get plenty of quick hitting action, we also get cops who get winded, criminals who run without shooting, and other foregone clichés that might exist otherwise. However, it isn't until we get to the meat of the story that we start to see the unconventional turns take place.

The story truly starts, about 30-40 minutes in, when Do-cheol meets Jo Tae-oh, a spoiled, rich, and sadistic executive at the powerful Sun- jin group. When Tae-oh becomes responsible for the near death of one of Do-cheol's friends. It sets in motion a cat and mouse game, with Do-cheol the unstoppable force and Tae-oh blocking him at every point. The film isn't especially action packed, though we do get a few moments of action here and there. Much of this is mixed between comedy and crime drama. What makes the comedy especially good is that it's not only somewhat unconventional for a crime drama of this sort, but that our characters are made relatable and realistic. Despite how they may be set up to be more than average, we're quickly reminded that they're still only human. The interactions are also wonderful, as we witness their personal connections and how they defy the clichéd character types. Do-cheol himself, played wonderfully and charismatically by the excellent Jeong-min Hwang, defies his first impression by having to navigate the legal system to catch Tae-oh in a way that is more about outsmarting his opponent than beating him up. He may act like a supercop, but as we see in the film, his more brutal actions come back to bite him. Tae-oh, played by an equally charming but far more sadistic Ah In Yoo, is a little more clichéd. He's a typically hated bad guy who has no problem embarrassing those around him, beating people up, and pushing his responsibilities onto others. Suffice to say, he plays a typical spoiled rich brat here. But it works. There's a scene early on which demonstrates this well, having a father get beaten in front of his son. He's a truly despicable.

The film is constantly entertaining all the way through and rarely lets up. We do get great scenes of drama and emotion, and the film does an excellent job of making Do-cheol likable, but it's at it's best when Do-cheol is navigating the roadblocks being placed in front of him and overcome his obstacles, which become increasingly more dangerous. When Do-cheol and Tae-oh finally confront each other, it will have been well worth it and the confrontation is something to be relished. This is a very well crafted film that balances all it's elements just right, never coming off as too melodramatic, and much of what works is owed to the excellent writing and acting by the two leads. Korea strikes gold again with this excellent film.

The first act of Veteran consists of utter shenanigans and plenty of nut shots, which might undermine its closer to reality dark story later on. When it introduces the rich mad antagonist it ramps up into one of the best cop dramas from Korea in recent times. The setup is smart, often looking eerily authentic yet still presents a couple of heavy themes with strikingly eccentric characters.

It opens up with simple case of car smuggling which feels as though it's usual Korean drama, while funny it doesn't possess the right gravitas. About half an hour comes the antagonist Tae Oh (Ah In Yoo) who practically turns the tone upside down. From then it's a mental and physical struggle that's utterly bloody and dark. This is quite the brutal chess game of cop versus criminal.

It's definitely a pleasant surprise, delivering harrowing scene of debauchery and corruption. The way the actors carry themselves bring just enough realism to the character, either it's from the daily life or interaction between colleagues or disproportionate respect to boss. The social and public culture is exaggerated, yet it's odd enough to be real. The director knows how to present the characters, both the flawed antagonist and seemingly suave antagonist, and make audience root or despise them.

Action is pretty good, it keeps the tone of actual brawl with real life martial art and has succeeded on portraying impact on its punches and kicks. The visual takes very direct ambiance and aside for a few distinct moments, it keeps the genuine atmosphere intact. If there's a hindrance in the movie, it's that the quirky comedy might not translate well. These types of gags are common for Korean shows, but they do tend to be excessive.

Using far end spectrum from both crime drama and action comedy, Veteran is a fervid and visceral cop thriller with dissonantly relatable social backdrop.

Brilliantly directed and even more effectively presented by all the actors. Ground breaking storyline backed by excellent dialogues and acting. Worth your precious time for sure. But I bet that in reality this super rich are too powerful and beyond the reach of cops. Let's hope that one day this will happen in reality as well.

The Korean cop-thieves films are quite extraordinary and I had seen plenty of them. This is based on kind of similar theme. Instead the gang here it is a cop who face-off a millionaire. This is not completely a serious action-crime, but a bit of fun too, that was well written and directed by 'The Berlin File' filmmaker. The film was a huge hit in the domestic market, but I felt the runtime was slightly a lengthy with some few boring parts. Overall, the film was entertaining, that reached close to my expectation.

Before coming to the main story, the film tells a couple of quick crime solving events in its first act. It was the story of an honest, but a tough police officer when it comes to the crimes and criminals. That's how he ends up on one of the greatest case he has ever taken in the hand. Though, it all begins when one of the truck drivers was badly injured after protesting over his termination from the job without the pay. That brings a young wealthy businessman into the frame for the head-to-head clash between him and the cops. In the end who wins, the corporate house with their financial power and political influence or the limbless police force is the remaining.

The opening was so hilarious, I thought I had to prepare for the laugh riot, but then the middle parts failed to keep the same intensity. Precisely to say there's nothing much happened, not the interesting stuffs. That is where the audience has to watch out, because this is not one hundred per cent comedy. But somehow the story kept moving in a right direction, especially the clash between the cops and corporate, at least in a draggy pace. When the final act commenced, I felt the previous developments came in handy to set the stage for a great finish.

"I told you to stay out of trouble."

Quite refreshing from the regular cop films. I did not anticipate the amusing characters like this, not from the cops. Only the cops, but the character sets from the opposite were inverted like 'the masks of comedy and tragedy'. The whole cop team, including the chief was so funny. There are loads of small scale jokes that brighten up our mood. But like I said, once the narration approaches the midway, especially after a business tycoon was introduced, all the fun parts were beginning to fade away. That's the reminder for the commencement of the other facet of the story.

So the film takes the us to the vital segment of the narration where the intensified confrontation takes place. But only the twist spells even more interest in us about the tale's ending. Nothing any breathtaking secrets revealed, yet absolutely best and smart turnaround. The struggling police force against their rival was brilliantly told. In reality, I don't think things can happen like that, but for a movie, it was fun as well as thrilling with some awesome stunt sequences.

The actors too showed their potential. I think it is a good film to remake, but there are few areas to improve like overall pace of the film. When the film started, it took me around half an hour to get used to everything about the film. From the characters to the situations they are in, it needs a serious attention from us, but the other side the length of the film is a worrisome. I enjoyed watching it, so no doubt it was a good film, but should have been even better than that.

I would say it missed an opportunity to be one of a fine cop film. Not because of the attachment of the comedies, but separating and randomising them from the other heavy events makes it an inconsistent to keep up the same momentum throughout, especially like during facing the bad guys. If you watch the film's ending you will understand what I meant.

So these kind of flaws are minors, that comes under the screenplay's error when the scenes in the story failed to flow in a same flat surface. That's what I felt, yet I know I'm not an expert in that field, but I have experience watching films like that. So I won't complain the overall film, surely I can recommend it for those who like cop story. Though the one thing you have to keep in your mind is that it is not a serious recital, but something like seeing a film Jackie Chan in a cop avatar.

7/10