“The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos” Theatrical Poster
Director: Son Yong-ho
Writer: Han Jeong-hoon
Cast: Kim Sang-Joong, Ma Dong-Seok, Kim A-Joong, Jang Ki-Yong, Gang Ye-Won, Kim In-Woo
Running Time: 115 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Feature length spin-offs of TV shows are a rarity in Korea, so it came as a surprise when the announcement was made that Bad Guys was going to be heading for the big screen. The concept of writer Han Jeong-hoon, Bad Guys aired as an 11-episode series in 2014, and focused on a world-weary detective who’s given the opportunity to put together a special crime squad to tackle violent crime. The hook was the squad he assembles comprised of incarcerated criminals – a gangster (played by a pre-Train to Busan Ma Dong-seok), a psychopathic serial killer, and a hitman. Not so surprisingly, the show was a success.
Jeong-hoon would script a follow-up in 2017 with Bad Guys: Vile City, a thematic follow-up which gave us a whole new cast of characters, and was notable for marking Park Joong-hoon’s return to the screen (and first time in a TV series) as the lead after a 6 year hiatus. The follow-up didn’t quite match the success of its predecessor, so it’s fitting that the big screen adaption chooses the world the original took place in, bringing back both Kim Sang-joon (The Day He Arrives, City of Damnation) as the world weary detective, and Ma Dong-seok (Champion, One on One) as the gangster.
It’s an understandable decision considering how popular Dong-seok has become since appearing as the zombie bashing husband in 2016’s Train to Busan, and with the success of movies like Suicide Squad which essentially follows the same setup, the logic behind a big screen version makes increasing sense. It also means anyone can enjoy The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos, as although it continues the characters from the original TV series, it doesn’t require any knowledge of it. Jeong-hoon is once again behind the script, and has created a standalone tale that allows him to build a more ambitious story than TV budgets will allow, while also clearly relishing the fact it allows him the chance to return to some of the characters he penned 5 years ago.
Stepping into the director’s chair for his sophomore feature is Son Yong-ho, who made his debut with the 2014 middling serial killer thriller, The Deal, which he notably co-wrote. While his debut clearly showed an ambitious director, its downfall was feeling too much like a derivative greatest hits of the classic Korean thrillers which had come before it, lacking that all important spark of originality. Yong-ho did keep the action coming though, whether it be foot chases or rain-soaked brawls, and that ability is one that puts him in good stead to helm the decidedly lighter in tone big screen version of an already established world.
Replacing the psychopathic serial killer and hitman are a disgraced former cop with anger management issues, played by popular drama actor Jang Ki-yong (here making his big screen debut), and a scammer who’s as smart as she is sassy, played by Kim Ah-joong (The King, 200 Pounds Beauty). Along with Kim Sang-joon and Ma Dong-seok, the quartet are put to work on a case concerning a group of escaped convicts who made a successful bid for freedom while being transferred between prisons. Their investigation soon points to a gang of Japanese yakuza involved in manufacturing methamphetamine and organ trafficking, and for added local audience anger, are using Koreans to experiment on just like they did in World War II (see Men Behind the Sun for a grizzly look into that dark period).
While I can think of more than one Korean production that’s started strong and ultimately stuttered to its conclusion, if anything Reign of Chaos has the opposite problem. During its initial third Jeong-hoon’s script seems uncertain of exactly how many nods it needs to give to the original series, versus how much time should be spent developing the new characters and the returning cast of Sang-joon and Dong-seok. The result feels like a lot of stop-start gear grinding as the pace struggles to find its flow, and matters aren’t helped by the prison bus convoy set piece kicking off via some horrendously sub-par CGI. I’ve always been of the opinion that if the budget doesn’t cover vehicular mayhem and explosions, then it’s better to scrap them rather than try to create the whole thing with CGI, and this sequence is the best example I’ve seen to prove the point.
However once the attack is over, both the pace and the plot find their rhythm, and things pick up considerably. Whereas in the original series Dong-seok was part of an ensemble, here he’s pushed more to the fore, having become a bankable star in recent years. While the likes of Unstoppable struggled to balance Dong-seok’s gift for humour with his muscular physiques ability to dish out some serious hurt, the likes of The Outlaws and The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil have got it right with entertaining results. Reign of Chaos also gets it right, with his straight forward gangster coming across as a likeable rogue. Dong-seok doesn’t attempt to solve the mystery, as he does steamroll anyone who may have the slightest connection to it.
Reign of Chaos takes the award for the number of hapless lackeys who get punched in the face by the burly actor, and the stuntmen do a fantastic job of selling the hits, whether it be being throw into a wall or smashed through a table. While to a degree Dong-seok does exactly what you’d expect him to do in a movie like this, the important thing is its exactly what we want him to do, and Yong-ho doesn’t skimp on giving him opportunities to flex both his comedic and action muscles, often both at the same time. In one particularly hilarious scene a character tries to escape by chaining a pair of doors locked shut, to which Dong-seok simply rips them off their hinges and calmly walks through.
It’s scenes like this which sum up the tone of Reign of Chaos – it’s a light and breezy affair which, once it finds its footing, remains entertaining throughout. Even with the oddly nationalistic storyline that emerges, it avoids feeling heavy handed thanks to its almost comic book like feel. The main villain, played by Korea’s go-to actor for Japanese characters Kim In-woo (The Battleship Island, Assassination), comes armed with a spiked knuckle duster, and at one point Dong-seok calls in his former acquaintance “Goblin’s Feet”, a flurry of taekwondo kicks and little else portrayed by stuntman Kang Yeong-mook (Spare, City of Violence). While in the current climate, on paper at least, the story of police hired criminals who have free reign to beat the crap out of anyone they come across may seem controversial, onscreen it knows not to take itself too seriously. This is a tale of bad guys beating up badder guys, and should be enjoyed as such.
Despite Dong-seok’s imposing presence, the rest of the quartet do an amicable job, and there’s a likeable chemistry between them when they’re together. He and Sang-joon carry over their relationship from the TV show, and Ah-joong plays the role of a scammer with an expertise for analysis and utilising her femininity with an endearing level of confidence. Ki-yong is serviceable in his first big-screen appearance, but doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression, and he gets a one on one fight scene that I was really hoping was going to go to Dong-seok.
The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos is at its core a no-frills action comedy that serves up exactly what it says on the tin. It moves along briskly, containing an equal amount of laughs and bad guys getting punched in the face or their bones broken (sometimes both). Dong-seok steals the show whenever he’s onscreen, but Yong-ho seems to know this, so therefore he’s on it frequently. The closing moments hint at the possibility of a sequel, and if it turns out to be half as entertaining as Reign of Chaos, they can count me in.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10
Sounds intriguing. Interesting that the serial killer and hitman were excluded for the movie. I wonder if that was to make way for more likable characters.
Is one of the controversial elements because of police violence in America or because of it all over the world? (It’s easy to jump at the US since the world revolves around it ;$)
I was mainly thinking of it from an American audience perspective, considering that was the country which banned ‘Battle Royale’ for fear it’d incite more high school shootings (like a movie was needed for that), and is also the source of the backlash against the most recent ‘Batman’ movies, claiming Batman is a representation of police brutality. We live in sensitive times. In Korea, the movie was a success.
The Korean Blu Ray has been out of print for quite some time, and I had to do some deep tracking to find a legal copy online. I finally found it and I’m glad. I needed something to tie me over while waiting for The Roundup to come out on Blu Ray, and Reign of Chaos did just fine. While the action is good, the interactions between characters was just as interesting and I liked seeing everyone play off one another.