Nine years after the box office success of the wildly enjoyable "Veteran"—now on Netflix if you haven't caught up—Ryoo Seung-wan returns with a sequel to his action-comedy that takes this world of cop chaos a little more seriously than its predecessor while losing none of its entertainment value. Sure, "Veteran" didn't shy from commentary on the broken structures and systemic inequities of society, but "I, The Executioner"—which, it should be noted, is just called "Veteran 2" in its home country—looks directly in the mirror, interrogating generations of stories about cops who will go to any means necessary to serve justice. Vigilante justice has taken a new form in an era of internet mobs, but Ryoo hasn't made a simple cautionary tale about online justice—he's crafted a film that's wildly entertaining but also has a great deal on its mind about how far we should be willing to go to balance the scales. Is there such a thing as good murder?
A creative vigilante has been enacting justice on criminals who have slipped through the system, either ones who got away with crimes entirely or simply didn't get an appropriately long sentence. ("Dexter" fans will recognize the behavior.) The mysterious, unknown figure has been named "Haechi" by the press, especially a famous Youtuber who helps feed his popularity with increasingly heated rhetoric, knowing that the internet loves to see bad guys get what's coming to them. (The name comes from a mythical creature of East Asian origin that judges those who have committed sins.)
"Veteran" lead Seo Do-cheol (the ruggedly charming Hwang Jung-min) balances working on the Haechi case with issues around bullying that his son is facing at home, getting too often pulled away as the unknown assassin gains confidence. The wonderful investigative crew from "Veteran," re-introduced in a well-deserved slo-mo shot after a rocking opening fight sequence, gains a new member in the fearless Park Sun-woo (Jung Hae-in). The internet dubbed Park the "UFC Policeman" after he choked out a knife-wielding man with an impressive leg move. As Seo questions why he's being asked to protect vile criminals from what they arguably deserve, Park unleashes his skill set on anyone who might be Haechi. He's representative of a new era of crime fighting, one that understands the role internet mob justice will play in the way justice is enacted in the future.
There's a pretty big twist two-thirds of the way through "I, The Executioner" that I would bet at least half the audience sees coming, but that's not an issue when a film is as sharply constructed as Ryoo's. From the opening fight scene through an expertly constructed rooftop battle in the rain that's among my favorite scenes of the year, Ryoo combines a sense of slapstick into his fight choreography that's just fun to behold. Especially in an era of overly manufactured CGI superhero battles, there's something so smile-inducing about fight scenes that look chunky and clunky. In the first sequence, a cop goes in for a flying kick on a bad guy and lands short of her target. It's not just that kind of funny beat that elevates the action here but how that amateur quality is embedded in all the action scenes. People slip, fall, and tumble—you know, as even trained people would in real fights.
The final scenes of "I, The Executioner" lose their way a bit as Ryoo overcomplicates his climax with multiple potential victims and thereby discards a few of the interesting moral questions at the core of his story. While the end of "I, The Executioner" is undeniably enjoyable on the surface, it's a bit disappointing to see some of the ingenuity of the rooftop fight disappear, along with a few of the film's richest ideas. However, by this point, most viewers won't care (and I truly adore the epilogue that reminds us what really matters to Seo). They'll be too busy asking why it took so long to make another film in this series, and hoping it's not another nine years before another one.
This review was filed from Fantastic Fest. It opens on September 27th.
