Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage

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 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.

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)

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!