Cannes 2024: We saw an amped-up crime comedy sequel to a huge Korean hit

Veteran 2 : the sequel we’ve been waiting for

It’s been almost ten years since its release Veteran (2015)a brilliant detective comedy from South Korea. A film that most French audiences unfortunately do not know, since the feature film remained unreleased here, despite a good screening at the Paris Korean Film Festival in 2015. However, in his country of origin, Veteran it was a success, attracting more than 13 million viewers. Enough to make it, at the time, the fifth biggest hit of all time at the Korean box office.

Despite this financial success, we had to wait almost a decade before finding star Hwang Jeong-min (still brilliant) in the role of detective Seo Do-cheol, during an exceptional screening of Veteran 2 (I, the executioner in the original title) 77th Cannes Film Festival, in the midnight session. Do-cheol is an old-fashioned police officer when it comes to tracking down criminals, but he maintains moral values ​​and leads his team with half-broken arms to the top. And if, in the first work, he attacked a billionaire responsible for the suicide of a father, in Veteran 2the shock policeman investigates an assassin who hunts criminals spared by a judicial system in crisis.

A dark look at society

The great quality of Korean blockbusters is precisely this ability to present themselves entertainment while questioning society. The inequality of social classes was therefore at the center of the first work. This time Ryoo Seung-wan points growing violence, omnipresent on screens and animated by social networks. Because the murderer reveals through his murders the atrocities committed by his victims. He thus becomes, for some, a hero. Except, as Do-cheol will say, there are no good and bad murders. A crime remains a crime and a police officer must enforce the law correctly.

Mortality therefore remains important for Ryoo Seung-wan, who stated in an interview with Cannes Film Festival : “ The film encourages viewers to think with blurred lines between good and eviland the importance of distinguishing them in today’s society “. This does not prevent the director from sometimes having fun with violence, as in the first sequence of Veteran 2 during which Do-cheol’s team intervenes in an underground casino. A bizarre and funny scene punctuated by music Yes sir I can danceby Baccarat, which sees the police ask the criminal to attack him with a knife to obtain compensation for the damage. The scene will then end with a violent blow to the bandit’s private parts.

Despite everything, this humor remains rather rare. within Veteran 2Still darker compared to its predecessor. This doesn’t stop the film from being enjoyable, also thanks to well-made action scenes, during which Ryoo Seung-wan tries to innovate. Like this violent brawl on a soaked roof, or this energetic chase through a crowd. The director perhaps sometimes uses a little too many effects, for example with excessive usedivided diopter . But it is this generosity that we love so much in Korean cinema and thought we had lost a bit lately.

Veteran 2by Ryoo Seung-wan was presented at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. The film does not yet have a release date.

Source: Cine Serie

Ray

Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.