Veteran

This review may contain spoilers!

I love it when a crime film has a well constructed plot. I would give Veteran a 7/10.

There's something exceptionally clever in how this plot advances; first we are well introduced to the characters through some rather slapstick circumstances but what really hits is when the protagonist and the antagonist meet for the first time. From that point onwards the film escalates into a gripping confrontation between the law and the corrupt wealthy men of power. Both leads fill these opposing ends really well and drive the action forward in a way that's rather terrifying and thrilling to watch. The fight scenes for this film are something else altogether; the action looks very real and is incredibly well timed.

Hwang Jeong-min, who played Seo Do-Cheol, is a really fun lead in this film; easily one of the best action hero leads in terms of the range of emotions and storylines they can be engaged in. Yoo Hae-jin, who played Choi Sang-moo, was quite a ruthless supporting antagonist; he had this incredibly intimidating corporate edge to him while he was onscreen. Oh Dal-su, who played Team Leader Oh, was a great balance of comedy and inspiring leader; in fact it was the scenes where he challenged superiors or engaged with Jeong-min in which he really stood out. Jeong Woong-in, who played Chauffeur Bae, was a performance that you could really empathise with; he was a family man who really fought hard for what he believed was right and fair.

However the best performance came from Yoo Ah-in, who played Jo Tae-oh. This was acting like I very rarely see; in fact his performance was one of the best antagonists that I've seen this year. You could not predict what he was going to do onscreen, from the minute he was introduced he was a complete wild card. Ultimately the raw anger and venom that Ah-in put into his performance is what made such a truly memorable villain.

The slapstick comedy really took away from this film's best elements; there was an intense story here that repeatedly was undermined by some attempt to rebrand this film as an action-comedy. The pacing suffered from a lot of unnecessary scenes or characters; so while the plot was thorough there needed to be a lot cut out. I found the cinematography had a lot of potential but ultimately played it safe with too many simple shots. The editing was quite basic in terms of how it was cut, the visual style wasn't a high point of the film. The score for this film wasn't really there and didn't have the power to back up the big story it was set against.

Jeong Man-shik, who played Manager Jeon, was a fairly weak antagonist; his role seemed to grow as the plot demanded him to the point that his character felt a bit absurd. Jang Yoon-ju, who played Miss Bong, was the biggest role behind the slapstick comedy; I struggle to understand why they felt they needed to cheapen the film with these roles peppered throughout.