I saw this much-hyped sequel against my better judgement. Having seen the original and some of Kang's other films, I knew it would probably be overlong and only intermittently entertaining. In this, I think I was proved right, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected.
The first film diluted it's manic, almost psychotic, intensity with excessive length and a rather flat delivery. For all its beatings, asides on corruption and justice, monstrous acting, coal-black humour and over-heated atmosphere, it was too long and stymied further by a restricted, almost myopic visual style plus too much shouty dialogue.
This sequel shares many of the same problems. This cinematography is quite disappointing. Despite being shot by Kim Song-bok, who also shot the stylish, colourful Shiri and JSA, the production is restricted to offices, minimalist interiors and homes, all bathed in bland lighting; it is by no mean a dynamic visual spectacle. It lasts almost 150 (longer than the first film), and draws out what could have been an economical, punchy narrative with repetitive speeches on the nature of responsibility and the role of public servants. Worse still is the overall lack of aggression this is positively tame in comparison to the original, with no chainsaws, knives or bricks in sight. The social commentary is also simplistic. Many of the issues raised and crimes pursued have world-wide relevance but the debate is terribly laboured and simplified here, and thus the film never takes on an epic dimension (which the films of Michael Mann do) despite the long running-time: there's precious little sense of a wider-world, or even a sense of South Korea on the international stage. At times, it resembles a dreary TV-legal drama.
But for all that, I was gripped. The film takes a thoroughly old-fashioned approach to character distinction: prosecutor Chul-jung Kang is the good guy, a tough, utterly dedicated, incorruptible force for good, living a lonely bachelor's life in the pursuit of justice for the innocent, belying the long-hours, derision and low pay. Sang-woo Han is an absolute b**tard who'd kill his own brother, sell-off his father's charitable legacy and even drive-over elderly, well-meaning street-cleaners who tick him off for littering. He's the bad guy, and the friction between hero and villain makes for a tense match, that protracted dialogue cannot nullify.
The film's meticulous attention to procedural detail and male camaraderie is also interesting. The male-melodrama that underlies so many Korean blockbusters (especially Kang's Silmido) is more engaging here, less forced and makes the prosecuting team quite endearing. The film peters out steadily towards the end, and like the first film the climatic showdown is slightly disappointing because it takes too long to come, only here its worsened by a weak, weak conclusion. That said, there are several other excellent action sequences: a ruck at the start between warring schools, some nasty collisions on the highway involving a motorbike gang, and a few more brutal beatings ordered by the chief baddie.
And what a baddie: greedy, self-obsessed, un-patriotic, incredibly arrogant and happy to delegate all his wrong-doing and GBH to his lackeys, he still maintains that his is of noble blood, above all us proles. Just seeing the SOB get his dues made the experience worthwhile.
The first film diluted it's manic, almost psychotic, intensity with excessive length and a rather flat delivery. For all its beatings, asides on corruption and justice, monstrous acting, coal-black humour and over-heated atmosphere, it was too long and stymied further by a restricted, almost myopic visual style plus too much shouty dialogue.
This sequel shares many of the same problems. This cinematography is quite disappointing. Despite being shot by Kim Song-bok, who also shot the stylish, colourful Shiri and JSA, the production is restricted to offices, minimalist interiors and homes, all bathed in bland lighting; it is by no mean a dynamic visual spectacle. It lasts almost 150 (longer than the first film), and draws out what could have been an economical, punchy narrative with repetitive speeches on the nature of responsibility and the role of public servants. Worse still is the overall lack of aggression this is positively tame in comparison to the original, with no chainsaws, knives or bricks in sight. The social commentary is also simplistic. Many of the issues raised and crimes pursued have world-wide relevance but the debate is terribly laboured and simplified here, and thus the film never takes on an epic dimension (which the films of Michael Mann do) despite the long running-time: there's precious little sense of a wider-world, or even a sense of South Korea on the international stage. At times, it resembles a dreary TV-legal drama.
But for all that, I was gripped. The film takes a thoroughly old-fashioned approach to character distinction: prosecutor Chul-jung Kang is the good guy, a tough, utterly dedicated, incorruptible force for good, living a lonely bachelor's life in the pursuit of justice for the innocent, belying the long-hours, derision and low pay. Sang-woo Han is an absolute b**tard who'd kill his own brother, sell-off his father's charitable legacy and even drive-over elderly, well-meaning street-cleaners who tick him off for littering. He's the bad guy, and the friction between hero and villain makes for a tense match, that protracted dialogue cannot nullify.
The film's meticulous attention to procedural detail and male camaraderie is also interesting. The male-melodrama that underlies so many Korean blockbusters (especially Kang's Silmido) is more engaging here, less forced and makes the prosecuting team quite endearing. The film peters out steadily towards the end, and like the first film the climatic showdown is slightly disappointing because it takes too long to come, only here its worsened by a weak, weak conclusion. That said, there are several other excellent action sequences: a ruck at the start between warring schools, some nasty collisions on the highway involving a motorbike gang, and a few more brutal beatings ordered by the chief baddie.
And what a baddie: greedy, self-obsessed, un-patriotic, incredibly arrogant and happy to delegate all his wrong-doing and GBH to his lackeys, he still maintains that his is of noble blood, above all us proles. Just seeing the SOB get his dues made the experience worthwhile.
