VETERAN is an action comedy thriller from South Korea that effortlessly jumps from genre to genre, remaining entertaining as it does so. A slightly overlong running time is the only downside; some of the middle section feels rather padded and it's a little too easy to get caught in the overwhelming number of characters, some of them extraneous. The story is about a veteran cop hot on the heels of a slimy young rich guy, and there's the expected social commentary at the role of the rich and disaffected of Korea. The story tends to work better when it comes to the comedy instead of the thrills, but there's a string of fine action scenes to enjoy here, with some Jackie Chan-style multi-combatant fight scenes, a rooftop chase, and an incredibly powerful climax.

I saw already some very good Korean movies but this one isn't one of them. Even though it's all nicely shot and you can clearly see they had a budget for this movie it's still not a great movie. Maybe it's the Korean language, that sounds like they are always really angry when they speak. It's just an awful language if you ask me. I speak four different languages myself and none of them sounds that angry all the time. Add on that that the majority of the actors in Veteran are not that good and you get quickly bored. At least I was, the end couldn't come quick enough. In other circumstances Veteran could have been better. By that I mean if it was in English for example, with better actors, and with more realistic action scenes. Now it's a typical Korean action movie, one that I'm not a fan of.

The first act of Veteran consists of utter shenanigans and plenty of nut shots, which might undermine its closer to reality dark story later on. When it introduces the rich mad antagonist it ramps up into one of the best cop dramas from Korea in recent times. The setup is smart, often looking eerily authentic yet still presents a couple of heavy themes with strikingly eccentric characters.It opens up with simple case of car smuggling which feels as though it's usual Korean drama, while funny it doesn't possess the right gravitas. About half an hour comes the antagonist Tae Oh (Ah In Yoo) who practically turns the tone upside down. From then it's a mental and physical struggle that's utterly bloody and dark. This is quite the brutal chess game of cop versus criminal.It's definitely a pleasant surprise, delivering harrowing scene of debauchery and corruption. The way the actors carry themselves bring just enough realism to the character, either it's from the daily life or interaction between colleagues or disproportionate respect to boss. The social and public culture is exaggerated, yet it's odd enough to be real. The director knows how to present the characters, both the flawed antagonist and seemingly suave antagonist, and make audience root or despise them.Action is pretty good, it keeps the tone of actual brawl with real life martial art and has succeeded on portraying impact on its punches and kicks. The visual takes very direct ambiance and aside for a few distinct moments, it keeps the genuine atmosphere intact. If there's a hindrance in the movie, it's that the quirky comedy might not translate well. These types of gags are common for Korean shows, but they do tend to be excessive.Using far end spectrum from both crime drama and action comedy, Veteran is a fervid and visceral cop thriller with dissonantly relatable social backdrop.

With a summer filled with less than mediocre domestic films busting blocks in box office we get a quality entertainment from director Ryu Seung-Wan. This is not an entirely original film but Ryu packs it with enough real life relevance and intrigue in the plot to keep the audience thoroughly entertained.The plot which has the same structure as "The Public Enemy" series, very popular and also from Korea, follows a hardboiled cop trying to take down a psychotic rich kid after his acquaintance ends up in hospital. Both parties do what they do best. One follows leads and the other does whatever it takes cover it up.As mentioned above, the film's action scenes and its general tone (comic reliefs, charismatic yet evil rich baddies) are very similar to Public Enemy series. However the story is more focused here with director Ryu's confidence in his own style.The entire cast turns in solid performances but the standout is Ah In Yoo, making a real nasty playboy who can convincingly smirk and get under your skin. Also worth mentioning is Hae Jin Yoo who's presence in a film almost always indicate solid performances. He plays a man who needs to juggle around running the company and keeping the young maniac under control. In its final action sequence, fans of Korean cinema will chuckle at a familiar face making a goofy cameo.So far Ryu hasn't made a single film that wasn't worth the admission price. Sure, his film can come off cheesy at times but they were never boring. Ryu's style can also compensate for not entirely original plots in films like "Veteran" and "Berlin Files". A great success in box office, this film will pretty much guarantee the director to make any film he wants to make next. Anything he makes, I'll be first in line.