User reviews

The original title was Bad Police, but then changed to Jo Pil Ho: The Dawning Rage. I think this is a clever idea. It changes something that sounds generic into something more personal and intriguing.

Jo Pil Ho is a fascinating character. And Lee Sun Kyun did an amazing job portraying it. A dirty cop who is rude and always up to no good.

The writer also did an excellent job in building up Jo Pil Ho character. At first it was so easy to dislike him (which was intended to be) and as the story unfolded you will likely begin to root for him.

Nothing new with the story it self. But what makes this movie pops is you get the sense how realistic it is. It has realistic characters where they all are no saints. And realistic fight scenes where our protagonist were beaten countless times. This made me even more invested in the story.

One of minus point that i have to mention here is the unnecessary backstory of Sewol incident. It was a shame the writer seemed reluctant to dig deeper into this, using this tragic incident only for a decoration.

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.

Good movie. It's labeled as action, but it feels more like a crime drama. There is some action of course, but not too much. I wasn't entirely happy with some of the movie's events, but still, I liked it. Good plot. Also, the ending song is beautiful, someone please tell me the name of the song so I can look it up! I replayed the credits 3 times just to listen to the song!

A great mixture of action, comedy, drama and thriller.

At times this feels like it's a little too much all in one movie, but the film manages to keep the balance between these elements pretty well. Perhaps the main character could have had a little more depth. But overall I really enjoyed it. You definitely won't get bored.

The film takes its time to lay out a well-constructed and engaging story with character development solid enough to deliver some emotional scenes toward its conclusion. Light on action but strong on plot and drama, with a convincing antihero 'bad cop' protagonist, and excellent support. The score is subtle, and the lighting is suitably moody. While it doesn't have the impact of 'The Man From Nowhere,' it's still worthwhile viewing.

Everyone is on the take in this Korea from the Chaebol, to government officials, cops and doctors. The 2014 MV Sewol ferry sinking serves as a backdrop for what the youth see as adult failure. Grab what you can and force deals as needed, nice guys are losers. The cop is caught in the middle as his own small scam intersects with a really big one. Some inventive fight scenes, the lead henchman is a terrific menace. The protagonist gets his redemption arc but all in all a grim story.

And vice versa of course. Korean action cinema has brought us quite a few really great movies and even if you feel this is not as top notch as some of the other outputs, this is still above average to say the least. Walking on a thin line morally speaking and the main actor does a great job keeping us engaged.

The story holds up and you will like where this is going if you are invested as much as most viewers. It's more of a thriller, but the interesting characters and story development makes it feel more "action" based than it probably is. If you like good thrillers, you will like this

The movie is watchable but not good enough to be considered as a top tier Korean movie. The emotional attachment between the cop and the girl was too strong to be believable. Acting was fine especially the bad guy.

I was going to watch Arcane, but got into this movie because it was recommended by Netflix. I didn't expect anything and the first half was quiet intriguing with a fast and unique story. I would give 8 just for the first half. But then another half became slow and sappy. It took a totally different turn as a social commentary which is quiet a strange way of making a movie. It's really unconventional in a bad manner. I should have watched Arcane.

It was nothing new but it good move, it's done well from storyline to acting 👍🏾

If you want to see good movie, give it a chance!

He's a great actor who made a bad choice in this movie. Needlessly violent and completely implausible ending no matter how it's interpreted.

Apparently, the original title translated literally to "Bad Police". This might be correct if you interpret it right.

Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage (2019) tells the story of, well, Jo Pil-ho, a corrupt detective trying to make money by persuading a teenager thief for one last heist. The goal: to get the money from the police warehouse. What seemed like an easy task, turns out to be a deadly action, as everything goes south. Now, Jo Pil-ho must find a way to clear his name while being targeted by Internal Affairs and the corrupt boss of a powerful corporation.

I saw the subtitle as "the dawning rage", and I was expecting a crime thriller with some badass antihero character. That is not the case here. Jo Pil-ho is a total jackass and incredibly dumb. It is understandable why he is trying to make a living by being corrupt than actually solving homicide cases.

The lack of likable characters is one of the main bad points about this movie. Jo Pil-ho is a dumb detective who ended up in the middle of a great conspiracy involving powerful people. Seems like he is always one step behind. I won't go through everyone else, but they are all either dismissable or annoying.

Also, the fact that the main character is a punching bag also makes this movie even worst. With a title such as "Bad Police" or "The Dawning Rage", I was expecting him to be one hell of a dude. Disappointing.

The plot is as expected as it could be. It's very cliché and almost nothing stands out. It would work great if the characters were at least likable somehow.

Only recommended to die-hard fans of Korean movies. As the dawning of this seeming rage arises, it would be better if you'd just let it sun go down.

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

Corrupt police officer Jo Pil-ho teams up with a rebellious girl to destroy a conspiracy, at the same time he is being pursued by the internal affairs department. On the run from an Internal Affairs agent, a corrupt cop teams up with a rebellious teenager to uncover a conspiracy... before it's too late.

A good detective plot, with good action scenes, coexisting and well tied together, I still have my peculiar difficulty in distinguishing the Orientals, who initially die one by one "mysteriously" to my physiognomic distraction... In its final half it takes on dramatic contours, very reasonable, regular...

If you write a review and then complain that your problem is you can't tell which actor is which because all korean look the same to you, you should not be able to write a review aswell as its just not true. The movie is good, not sure why it has only 6.2, without spoiling anything the plot is not new but the idea is executed pretty well and it keeps you engaged, the acting is very good even from the begining of the movie there is a scene with the main protagonist that looks so real you think someone filmed him without him even knowing so this is a good sign in my opinion. I had a couple of out loud laughs even though you dont really expect it from the movie. I did not like the ending and somewhat reminded me of the recent Parasite in which Sun-kyun Lee (the dirty cop) is in, but of course this is only my opinion. Ignore the low rating and go see the movie its a solid action movie with a very realistic take on the genre.

This movie definetly deserves more than 6.2 (at he the time of this review). It's an ok movie up to a certain point. Probably the first 2/3 of the movie. Then it gets better. The last scene "made me" rate this movie with an 8. The acting is great (this is obviously just my opinion)