“I, the Executioner” Theatrical Poster
Director: Ryoo Seung-wan
Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Jung Hae-in, Oh Dae-hwan, Oh Dal-soo, Jang Yoon-ju, Kim Shi-Hoo, Jeong Man-Sik, Shin Seung-Hwan, Jin Kyung, Kwon Hae-Hyo
Running Time: 118 min.
By Paul Bramhall
When Veteran hit the screens in 2015 it struck the perfect balance as an action comedy, and director Ryoo Seung-wan promised audiences there’d be more, revealing in interviews at the time how it was the first in an intended trilogy. Almost a decade later, and it’s safe to say many had given up on the chances of a sequel ever happening, however in 2024 Seung-wan returned to the director’s chair for I, The Executioner (simply called Veteran 2 in its native Korea), delivering a 2nd dose of Hwang Jung-min (Mission: Cross, The Point Men) as the grizzled veteran cop of the title.
To his credit, Seung-wan has reunited all of Jung-min’s colleagues from the original, with an opening action sequence involving an illicit gambling den reintroducing us to the likes of team leader Oh Dal-soo (The Wild, Tunnel) and the high kicking Jang Yoon-ju (Ballerina, One Win). Swapping out Blondie’s Heart of Glass for Baccara’s Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, it’s not long before bodies are hanging precariously off air conditioning units several floors up, and flying kicks fall comedically short of their target. It’s a sequence which successfully recaptures the tone of the original, alleviating any concerns that too much time has passed for a sequel to still feel relevant, however it’s also true that the cinematic landscape has changed a lot since 2015.
In many ways it feels like the Ma Dong-seok starring Round Up franchise (2017 – 2024) stepped into the action comedy shoes that Veteran was expected to fill, and as if to acknowledge the same, after the entertaining opening I, The Executioner noticeably pivots away from its comedic leanings. What’s interesting about the shift in tone is that Seung-wan had stated part of the reason why he made Veteran was that he wanted to move away from the darker material he’d been helming at the time, like The Unjust and The Berlin File, and get back to the type of action movies he enjoyed in his youth. Now coming off the back of 2023’s entertaining Smugglers, it would appear Seung-wan is more comfortable heading back into darker territory, even if it does conflict with the breezy tone of the original.
Taking a page from Herman Yau’s Death Notice from the previous year, the plot sees a mysterious vigilante, who the internet has dubbed Haechi, brutally murdering criminals who he feels have gotten off too lightly. Jung-min and the team are tasked with uncovering Haechi’s identity, and while doing so bring onboard a new team member. A rookie cop has also been doing the rounds on social media, referred to as the “UFC patrolman” for his impressive fighting skills, who it turns out idolises Jung-min for his no-nonsense approach to taking down criminals, making him a welcome addition to the team.
Played by Jung Hae-in (12.12: The Day, Start Up), the narrative somewhat clumsily attempts to disguise the fact that Hae-in is the mysterious Haechi, despite the setup making it blatantly obvious. With a plot that essentially centers around Jung-min inviting the very killer he’s looking for to be part of his team, being able to buy-in to such a stretch in believability is core to audience’s enjoyment of I, The Executioner. By throwing in a twist (if you can even call it that) so early, much of the runtime is spent waiting for Jung-min to catch on to a revelation the audience already knows, and to that end Seung-wan’s approach appears to be one of making the plot as busy as possible as a means of distraction.
The sequel has a clear message about the negative aspects of social media and internet mob mentality (one of the more memorable lines has Jung-min questioning if there’s “such a thing as a good murder”), however the narrative feels overly stuffed with sub-plots that needlessly bloat the runtime. From high school bullying, the treatment of foreign families, generational violence, societies treatment of those who’ve served their time, Korea’s ongoing issue with light prison sentences for drunken violence and sexual assault, social media influencers chasing views, all the way to vigilante justice. They’re issues that deserve to be touched upon, however a disproportionate amount of time is spent on many of them with no real purpose of moving the plot forward, making the pacing occasionally feel like its trudging through mud.
The more serious tone also results in Jung-min’s team for the most part pushed into the background, which after being teased with the opening sequence that sees them front and centre, almost makes it feel like it was a waste to go to the effort of bringing everyone back. In a way the returning cast act as a microcosm of the change in approach between the original and the sequel, with the scenes where they do appear usually there for comedic purposes, however with the shift to a darker tone, the result is one that frequently comes across as forced and out of place. It would have been nice to see the development of the relationship between Jang Yoon-ju and Oh Dae-hwan (Devils, Paid in Blood), whose yells of “Miss Bong!” were part of the originals charm, however here we barely get to see them interact with each other.
While the comedic aspect may have been trimmed down, thankfully the action beats are still on point. I, The Executioner may be the first Korean production to take full advantage of Namsan Mountain (of which Seoul Tower sits on top of), with a parkour infused chase sequence unfolding in and around the many stairs that lead to the top. For anyone who watched John Wick 4 and was left thinking what would be the next production to incorporate an impressive fall down a set of stairs, the one here will definitely satisfy. Similarly a rooftop fight sequence, that sees the whole team attempting to take down a perpetrator, impressively updates the ‘fight scene in a body of water’ that was so popular in the 2000’s (see My Wife is a Gangster, The Matrix Revolutions, Raging Phoenix, Naked Weapon – I could go on forever!).
While there’s been a noticeable shift in recent years to more realistic fight choreography, Seung-wan has a clear understanding of how stylistic fight choreography can be just as entertaining. The rooftop fight is a perfect example, with bodies sliding across the neon drenched rooftop to throw punches or even themselves into harm’s way, feeling like a welcome return to the kind of fight choreography that looks to prioritise excitement over realism. Unfortunately the sequence also results in Seung-wan committing the cardinal sin of placing I, The Executioner’s most impressive fight scene midway through rather than it being the finale (the likes of No Tears for the Dead and Steel Rain are guilty of the same).
The result sees the sequel ultimately build up to an underwhelming finale that suffers from a couple of major issues, the first being that with Jung Hae-in’s expertise in mixed martial arts being such an integral part of the plot, it never feels realistic that Jung-min should be able to beat him (which is the catharsis the audience is looking for). Secondly the whole setup that the final fight takes place in feels like it’s been taken straight from the Saw playbook, with multiple victims set up to meet their demise, and Jung-min placed in an impossible situation to rescue them all. While the intent is clear, it serves as a distraction to the face off between the pair, and with no cameo appearance from Ma Dong-seok to liven things up, it all feels a little overly serious.
There’s more than one scene in I, The Executioner when a character states that “times have changed”, and it’s an appropriate line for Seung-wan’s approach to the sequel. If anything, in tone it’s Smugglers which feels like it has more of a connection to the 2015 original, so how much audiences will enjoy this 2nd outing will largely depend on how much they’re willing to accept a shift into more straight-faced territory. I, The Executioner may take itself more seriously, however it’s at the cost of the charm that made its predecessor work so well.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10
It sounds like this will be more up my alley than the first film. I didn’t want the humor to be mostly gone though. I enjoy a good balance of the comedic moments and seriousness in these movies.