Movie buffs, all around the world will agree unconditionally to the fact that for the past two decades, the hardworking Korean cinema has carved a special respect in their hearts. Their unique treatment to their movies, literally stands apart among movies from lesser know countries on the world cinema map. In addition to their long list of impressive movies on the world stage, Akjilkyungchal is a new addition to the long list, that deserves all the attention. The movie may have a clichéd story and ordinary characters on the surface, but through the course of the film the very same characters laced with some hilarious black comical dialogues, pack a big punch to make the movie an enjoyable affair.

Cinematography is a hallmark for any Korean film and Akjilkyungchal is no exception. Screenplay and storyline is definitely inspired from movies all over the world but thanks to the director Jeong-beom Lee's vision, Akjilkyungchal becomes a different beast altogether and is quite different. Production design, music, costumes and makeup are very good. Editing might be a small letdown, as 126 minutes felt too long in my opinion. On the acting front, Sun-kyun Lee as the corrupt cop delivers a fine performance that is both entertaining and enjoyable, ably supported by other actors.

Overall, If you are a fan of Korean cinema or like cop dramas, Akjilkyungchal is a tailor made film for you. The movie is high on entertainment and is very enjoyable as the characters are extremely delightful, that you will love to see as a viewer. Akjilkyungchal on the whole is much more than a cop drama and a commercial cinema, that will stay inside the mind of the viewer for a long time. 7.1 stars out of 10 for refining a regular cliched story and selling the same to even the most seasoned movie buffs around the world.

THE DAWNING RAGE is a typically dark slice of South Korean corruption in which a crooked cop who uses some decidedly dodgy methods to make ends meet appears to be the straightest character. As usual for a Korean movie, there's a preoccupation with sinister politicians and corruption at the highest levels. The film is perhaps a little overlong given the straightforward storyline, but the cinematography is very good (as per usual for Korean cinema) and the performances enthusiastic. There are plenty of tonal shifts too, with the overriding theme being of darkness and psychological disturbance, but with brief comedy and even some action added to the mix.

Im still striving to understand how korean life and corruption works, there are a lot of cultural differences from the norwegian, so i guess thats why ,plus the lack of language understanding makes south korean films so hard to understand. even though i prefer korean action more than the chinese its still hard to understand its corrupt cops on other corrupt cops whos corrupted by other cops, which are corupted by cooperative coruption, that corrupts korean politics, which makes the whole korean society a corrupted mess, according to this film.

there are so many plots within the plots of plots, you will loose track in a short while, and i must admit that i have great problems because all koreans looks the same to me, so the actors are hard to take apart in the speed of action in this film. by all means the story are more than good enough and the acting are decent, but i seem to loose the point anyway.

the grumpy old man may be old, and the only south korean president i know by name is rhee syng man ( i know all the north korean presidents...) , so i might not be the best to put a badge on the realyty check of this film, other than that its a watchable movie for sure even though a big mess