‘Officer Black Belt’ review: The kicks all land

Director Jason Kim’s Officer Black Belt delivers remarkable coherency despite the film’s varied tone.

Writer/director Jason Kim isn’t opposed to revisiting old ground, but he never does the same thing twice in a row. Devotees of Netflix’s burgeoning selection of Korean content will probably be surprised to discover that Officer Black Belt is by the same filmmaker behind the 2023 boxing drama Bloodhounds or the 2019 paranormal horror The Divine Fury. At the same time, the fingerprints of Kim’s breakout film Midnight Runners, also an action cop comedy, are readily apparent. That’s not to say the filmmaker is repeating himself. Far from it. The most apparent sign of Kim’s growth as a filmmaker is his ability to take the film in darker directions without losing sight of its more lighthearted nature.

The titular Officer Black Belt is Lee Jung-do (Kim Woo-bin). Trapped in extended adolescence, he’s content to work as a food delivery driver for his father’s restaurant if it means he can spend his free time playing video games with his friends and pursuing his interest in martial arts.

When he witnesses the stabbing of police officer Cho Min-Jo (Park Ji-Yeol), he rescues the officer and subdues the assailant. Impressed, disabled police supervisor Kim Seon-min (Kim Sung-kyun) convinces Lee to work as an interim officer until Cho recovers.

A nuanced take on policing (at least by Hollywood standards).

Inspired by the real and very controversial South Korean program where “high-risk” criminals are given GPS-enabled ankle monitors upon release, Lee begins work as a probation officer under Kim’s tutelage. Lee initially sees the job as an opportunity to sometimes beat people up. But as he spends more time with his new mentor, he discovers a passion for serving his community and even comes to feel empathy for the uphill battle many former criminals face when trying to avoid recidivism. But when an unrepentant child predator (Lee Hyun-Geol) is released, the duo is pulled into a dark world of organized crime.

Today’s general audience has an unprecedented awareness of the difference between the fantasy of how media portrays policing and the reality of how policing often plays out in communities. Officer Black Belt never confronts this directly, but it does avoid many of the mistakes similar films delight in indulging in.

The film never glorifies misconduct and depicts the time Lee spends doing his job for selfish reasons as wrong. It’s far from perfect! But considering where the bar for films about cops (especially comedic ones) currently is, it’s a refreshing change of pace.

Jason Kim establishes himself as a master of mood.

Officer Black Belt is a comedy that tackles topics of sexual abuse, including child sexual abuse. Many similar films, either intentionally or not, end up lurid and bleak. But the most shocking thing about this film is that it is anything but. Script and direction are thoughtful and deliberate in their tackling of serious subject matter, never slipping into overindulgence.

As a result, the film has no problem being deathly serious in one scene and laugh-out-loud funny in the next. It’s a dynamic that serves not only the story but the performances of the the two leads, and Kim Woo-bin and Kim Sung-kyun taking full advantage of the film’s dramatic and comedic elements to demonstrate the full breadth of their acting abilities.

The bottom line.

As an action film, Officer Black Belt is a blast. Kim Woo-bin’s physical performance shines under Teo Lee’s cinematography, and the film’s use of props will remind more than a few viewers of the golden age of Hong Kong comedies. The comedic chemistry Kim Woo-bin shares with his costars is a delight and Kim Sung-kyun delivers a charming and heartfelt performance.

Established fans of Jason Kim will be delighted. The new ones will be excited to see what he does next.

Officer Black Belt is available to stream on Netflix. Watch the trailer here.

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Images courtesy of Netflix.