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Public Enemy
A notorious dirty cop makes an honest attempt to catch a serial killer who even murdered his own parents.
Release : | 2002 |
Rating : | 7.1 |
Studio : | Cinema Service, |
Crew : | Director of Photography, Fight Choreographer, |
Cast : | Sol Kyung-gu Lee Sung-jae Kang Shin-il Kim Jung-hak Do Yong-gu |
Genre : | Adventure Action Comedy |
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There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Director Kang Woo-suk dresses up his diatribes about the social ills of modern Korea in the well- worn finery of the cop-vs-serial-killer thriller so beloved by Hollywood. Disheveled cop Sol Kyung-gu, unrepentantly violent and perpetually on the take--because, let's face it, that's just how thing's get done in Korea--relentlessly pursues a dapper, smarmy financial whiz (Lee Sung- jae, who he believes killed his parents over his father's decision to remove a large chunk of money from a big investment deal in order to save an orphanage from the bulldozers. There's no doubt Lee is guilty of the crime--we see the act in all it's squishy glory, and he further confounds the investigators by randomly killing a hapless stranger to make all the murders appear to be the work of a serial killer, but Sol knows better, and will use every dirty trick at his disposal to put this doggy down. The real target of director Kang's venomous social criticism is quite obviously the soulless corporate culture he seems convinced has poisoned Korean society and subverted traditional family values far more than corrupt law enforcement ever could, and which he views as a wellspring of self-obsessed Armani-clad sociopaths who would slit their own mothers' throats to score a big ROI, only here the metaphor isn't actually a metaphor, it's the central plot device! (I'm guessing he read "American Psycho" or at least saw the movie; certainly Lee's icy villain would make an ideal overseas pen-pal for Bret Easton Ellis' Patrick Bateman). As in TWO COPS 1 and 2, the director sides squarely with the overworked, underpaid cops, and he lovingly (and humorously) illustrates the complex, even necessary web of corruption and deception they must weave in order to maintain the status quo.
The trailer makes this movie seem like a slick visually rich thriller about a cop chasing down a cold killer, unfortunately the film doesn't live up to that premise.Movie There's certainly some strong character moments but they are left under developed and under explored, they're treated all too lightly and often too comically. The visually slick scenes are also too underused and separated by weak character follow through, so one strong moment on screen isn't built upon with the characters.The film is very much a merging of two styles, taught thriller and often slapstick comedy. For me this just doesn't work, these two styles belong far apart.The story focuses on the rise of a killer pitched against the fall of a cop, a cop who has given up on his career and any morale boundaries, believing only in himself and obtaining cash any way he can.As the killer rises in his chosen path the cop stumbles upon him, realises and then finds a purpose to his job. Yet this is not is salvation, it comes as he reaches his lowest point and all there is left is the single, all consuming cause of catching the killer.It's really interesting to read the plot like that as it does read as a good movie, but intersperse the comedy and the unexplored avenues of the characters and story, and it really does bring the movie down. It's not just a case of realising these lost opportunities after the fact, as they pop up I actually caught myself audibly questioning why they'd just walked away from a scene. At times it was a frustrating movie.You'll see this in some of the decisions the cop makes and the investigations. They're all too convenient and almost too much of a leap not only to believe but also to understand. This and the weak, unexplored characters don't bring any affinity to the audience.That's the failing part of the movie. As it could have been such a great film combining American Psycho and Heat, but it just never gets that far and just gets distracted.Audio Presented: Dolby Digital 2.0 / 5.1, DTS The audio is solid here with a good DTS soundtrack, but nothing special that takes advantage of the speakers available. The music sometimes overpowered the story at key points, and at others was quite effective, but overall quite forgettable.Picture Presented: 16:9 Anamorphic Good picture overall with some difficult scenes combining night and rain together, they look dark and dreary yet retaining a bold contrast.Extras Presented: Behind the Scenes, Deleted Scenes, Music Video, Outtakes, Asia Extreme Trailers The Behind the Scenes were interesting, showing such things as the recreation of full upper body sculptures from the actors for the dead characters. There's also a lot more insight into the characters and how the actors played them.The Deleted Scenes and Outtakes were simply that, although some proved quite amusing at repeating the slapstick moments. The music video is quite good, as are the Extreme Trailers, but an overall poorer offering in terms of extras.Overall A very interesting plot that just gets glossed over far too quickly, and with the concentration seeming to be on the comedy rather than character and story progression, it doesn't really attract too well. It's an interesting DVD to watch, but an unfulfilling story.
The good thing is about the bad guy in the movie... the text on the DVD box told about a corrupt cop vs. a psychopath... Well, I feared the psychopath was a serial killer with all the nauseating, fetishist rituals stuff "a la" Seven or other movies alike. But the killer is almost a normal guy (as much as a killer can be a "normal guy"!), killing with a purpose... Well, the guy is seriously crazy anyway, killing for very trivial motives, such as a man spilling his drink on him. The bad thing in the movie is a kind of a scatological scene. It may seem trivial for some people, but for me, it wasted my enjoyment. Apart from that and 2 or 3 bloody sequences this is a very good movies.
Gonggongui Jeog (or Public Enemy) is simply one of the most entertaining films I've seen in ages. Nothing particularly new in terms of theme (wild-cannon cop chasing serial killer), but in terms of execution and sheer ENJOYMENT, there's no doubting this films worth.Great characters, performances, direction, scenes, dialogue... I could go on.If you like rough cop action (oo-er) which ooze black humour this is for you.Loved it. 9/10