Le Gangster, le flic & l'assassin

S I have said before , I don't think I've seen a bad film come of of South Korea.

I especially love their cop films which have an over exaggerated energy that is quite unique and The Gangster, The Cop , The Devil is no different .

After barely surviving a violent attack by an elusive serial killer, crime boss Jang Dong-su finds himself forming an unlikely partnership with local detective Jung Tae-seok to catch the sadistic killer simply known as "K".

This is a blood thirsty serial killer movie that gets straight to the point .

Everyone seems to be on edge as nobody trusts anyone .

It's full of casual violence as well as full on violence, a little bit like a cartoon in some ways.

The story is simple to follow , if not a bit over the top but you don't get to know the serial killer's motives which is a shame .

Ma Dong-Seok is the star of the show . Previously seen in Train To Busan , here he is perfect as the head of the crime organisation and provides a bit of calmness when around the cop who acts like he's drunk fifty cans of Red Bull.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is remade for the American market because the idea of a Gangster teaming up with a cop to catch a killer is a really good one .

09/10/2019 (3) The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (2019) 7.3/10

Non-spoiler-ish review :)

A serial killer with a heartless soul roaming around towns. A cop that is dedicated to catching him at all costs. And a gangster leader with a special mission to annihilate this serial killer.

This piece of work has more goods than bads. I would start off by stating the fact that the idea of the movie is fairly original or at least, well-executed.

There was a mutual relationship that gives viewers comedic relieves every now and then. This light up the mood of the movie in lots of times.

There are some acts of the movie that felt rushed. Some Infos seem to be setting up plot lines and major future reveals but they weren't. There were characters that seem to be important but then forgotten.

The director and the writers have good directions in the dialogues and setting up motives for characters. However, some of the scenes were strolled by too quickly for me to feel the burden or the punishment level of certain actions.

Nevertheless, the movie is pretty alright alright. Some flaws every now and then but overall, quite entertaining and satisfying. A good thriller/action flick.

For this year, I was pretty impressed with suspenseful/ action-comedy Korean movies like Parasite and the Hit-and-Run squad. They were both pretty good and worth mentioning really.

Great thriller with some really awesome background score. Don Lee really steals the scene. I would have given it a 9 if they had laid out the motive to the mode of the serial killings. Without that, it was slightly unfulfilling. But everything else was great fun.

This movie is somewhat alike Bad Guys (2014), with the surprising association of a cop (Kim Mu-yeol) and a gangster who heads a local mafia (Ma Dong-seok) in order to track down side by side a villainous serial killer (Kim Sungkyu). An extremely unorthodox attempt but, after all, the end justifies any mean, doesn't it? In spite of a few far-fetched scenes, the dynamic tandem is excellently interpreted and this efficient film is globally based on a breathtaking scenario, spectacular fights and a dark atmosphere.

Ticks off all the right boxes:

Lots of cool, vicious bad guys with one of them being really creepy and sick. On the other hand there are lots of dumb, ambitious cops, which are a laughing stock.

Lots of chases, that are quite riveting to watch. Lots of fist and knife fights, that are beautifully choreaographed and thrilling.

And to top it all off there is this contineous drive and suspense that keeps this story propelling forward.

THE cliffhanger: will they get the serial killer?

This story seems to be based on an actual true story, which is out of this world, because the police and the mob were actually really working together to catch a vicious serial killer.

Any bad? The cops are way too dumb to be real. And the gangsters are often way too cool, to be real as well. They used too many exagerated crime movie stereotypes, but then again, they didnt go too much overboard with these exagerations, therefore it still is an exciting and enjoyable crime flick!