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South Korea is a very different place than the United States or Canada, wich is where i live. Therefore everytime i watch a movie from there i am at first taken off a bit by how the peoples behave and speak, wich often look "cartoony" to me. I don't mean this with disrespect, its just stuff like "Big Brother" for older friends and overuse of bowing down kinda don't translate as well here.

But usually after 15 minutes or so i get used to it. This movie first start more as a comedy with a "Gary Sue" type of character, a way for the movie to justify the ass kicking that will follow without having to give him an overlong backstory.

Now i read the "Martial Arts Officer" concept really exist in South Korea, but i have no idea how realistic this movie actually is. I thought it was a bit hard to swallow at times how just 2 guys would go and would not call renforcements or such.

Ultimately the movie want to be a Martial Arts action flick, and this is where it shine. There is plenty of fights, they are well done and brutal.

And finally the movie explore also some very dark territories wich kinda contrast the more comedy elements. I guess its another SK thing cause its not the first time i seen this.

So is the movie perfect? No. But its a solid action/fight movie that should entertain fans of the genre, and there was a few scenes wich did made me squeeze my knuckles if you understand what i mean, so i think it did its job on what it aimed to do. Had an overall good time.

Thoroughly enjoyed Officer Black Belt ...won't pretend it's not a little high on the 'cheese' factor, but simultaneously focuses on the darker side of Korean culture.

Lived in South Korea for a few years & learnt there was some major issues with rape & although this is a feel-good film, it is focused on combating these terrible crimes.

The fight scenes are well choreographed & realistic - heroes get hurt alongside the villains.

The characters & relationships are also reasonably well, if lightly written.

I'd highly recommend to anyone who is interested in a fun, occasionally brutal & somewhat comedic, martial arts film.

The best part about watching a movie without reading a review/synopsis beforehand is that you can view it on a clean slate minus any expectation whatsoever.

That's what happened when I watched Officer Black Belt and it was truly a wonderful experience with many lessons to boot (pun intended).

A heartfelt journey of self-discovery and maturity for our very easygoing protagonist whose insouciant attitude towards life belies his age group. When fun must always be a requisite to convince our protagonist to come onboard any venture, 'accidentally' becoming a Martial Arts Officer who monitors a group of probationeers was eye-opening and gut-wrenching indeed.

The comedic part is really subtle, and the plot centres mostly on capturing baddies who are really intimidating and sinister. All the action sequences were done really and believably well.

I love when he came to the realisation that fun comes second place to prioritising lives of the people who matter. A coming-of-age story. Woo-bin nails it.

This movie feels a bit like it was meant to be the pilot of a series. It's well executed and as some nicely choreographed and filmed action sequences and in between some goofy humor. This humor makes the overall tone rather lighthearted despite the serious topics that are touched.

The only grief I have with this movie is the quite stupid decisions the characters repeatedly make.

Very mild spoilers follow.

The biggest one being that the protagonist keeps on ignoring supposedly knocked down enemies to look the other way and (of course) being attacked from behind. This happens (if I recall correctly) a total of four of five times, which was a bit annoying. At other times the only answer to why a decision was made can be "so the fight scene can happen". If the writing in these situations was a bit better, the movie would have been much more enjoyable. It was still a fun and entertaining experience that can and doesn't want to be taken too seriously.

The promotions for this are deceptive - it looks goofy fun. It turns into more of a serious action movie - great but different.

After a "slight" start showing the star living a pretty chilled life alternating between being very competitive in martial arts practice, doing food deliveries for his dad, and playing computer games with his friends, he stumbles onto an "officer of the law" (kind of a parole officer but arresting delinquent people breaking parole, by force) getting beaten up by a parolee. He puts his skills to use, and ends up helping out that law enforcement group.

That sounds pretty plain - but as he realises he's stopping violent criminals, and worse - and occasionally helping put someone back on the right track - he really finds meaning, and dedicates himself to catching a very bad criminal. Here the action really kicks in and changes from showy moves to really good brawling.

The movie is by the same writer/director as Bloodhounds which was a very impressive Korean series which also had spectacular fighting in it. And like that series you feel the star is really throwing himself around and being thrown around - not just letting the stuntmen do all the work.

There's good supporting actors too - and the "bad guys" add genuine danger to the mix.