I, The Executioner - Movie Review

Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Like a tidal wave, the internet and social media have swept over humanity, forever altering the landscape of our lives. In this new world of instant gratification, where knowledge and sustenance are but a click away, a daunting question emerges: can we, as a species, withstand the consequences of on-demand justice? That’s the question that the newest Korean action film I, The Executioner tries to ask as it plays in local cinemas now.

Executioner is the sequel to the 2015 South Korean smash-hit Veteran starring Hwang Jung-min which sees him reprising his role as Seo Do-cheol, a cop who’s semi-facetious ways sometimes puts him at odds with his co-workers and superiors. Here, he investigates a serial killer who murders criminals or suspected wrongdoers by mirroring the way they harmed their victims. To add fuel to this combustible situation, he and his team have to also deal with internet ‘influencers’ who have branded the killer as some sort of hero, egging on the masked vigilante to do harm to countless others.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

As a Filipino film viewer, it’s impossible not to see the similarities of the ‘influencers’ depicted in the film with the countess thousands of YouTubers who gain views by preying on the desire of the general populace to see people who do wrong get their comeuppance; so much so that they’ve even elected one to the Philippine Senate in a landslide a couple of years back.

One wishes that they’d have spent a bit more time fully fleshing out the moral difference between our protagonist and his prey.

It’s that uncomfortable sensation of seeing something so timely that adds to the tense feeling while watching, which thankfully gets diffused at various different parts of the film. This includes a fantastically staged and shot re-introduction to our hero and his team as they take down an illegal gambling ring that features Sammo Hung-levels of action comedy. It’s a good thing that this is what the film decides to connect to us with, because it takes a bit of time for the next pressure release to come.

The film does its best to make its message of “vigilanteism is bad”, but sometimes forget about that task when it decides to focus on being a slickly made action movie; nothing wrong with that, especially when the action scenes are staged as well as they in Executioner, but one wishes that they’d have spent a bit more time fully fleshing out the moral difference between our protagonist and his prey.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

A great comparison that can be made to this film is the 2019 action-comedy riot Extreme Job, which was a very irreverent and tongue-in-cheek crowd-pleaser; however, where Executioner sometimes has a bit of an identity crisis, Job commits to its bit of being nothing more than an easily digestible comedic thrill ride.

That is not to say that there isn’t any craft here worthy of praise; Au contraire. Nothing much more can be said about how polished South Korean filmmaking has gotten these days, and we should expect nothing less from director Ryoo Seung-wan, the ‘Action Kid’ of Hallyuwood.

CINEGEEK RATING: B+