Bullet Points: Officer Black Belt
Netflix is truly a global force in the world of entertainment. Netflix is responsible for exposing action movie fans to movies from around the world. The latest example of Netflix’s worldwide reach dropped this past Friday, it is the South Korean produced, Officer Black Belt.
- Fun and Games: Lee Jung-do (Kim Woo-bin) is a young man who loves fun and he loves to win. Proficient in multiple martial arts disciplines, when Jung-do is not earning black belts in taekwondo, kendo and judo, he’s playing e-sports with his colorful group of friends. It’s not all play and no work for Jung-do, he works at his dad’s fried chicken restaurant as a delivery guy. And it is on his way back from making deliveries one night that Jung-do’s life hits a turning point. Jung-do has delivered his last chicken order for the night and races back on his bike to resume his video gaming, but that’s when he hears a commotion in an alley way. A probation officer is doing his best to subdue a non-cooperative parolee. When the violence escalates, Jung-do can’t help but intervene and take out the parolee with relative ease, and saving the life of the probation officer in the process.
- An Offer He Can’t Refuse: For his act of courage, Jung-do receives a commendation and is invited to meet with Kim Sun-min, the probation department manager. Kim Sun-min (Kim Sung-kyun) offers Jung-do a temporary job as a “martial arts officer” in his department, while the officer Jung-do saved recovers from his injuries. Sun-min’s team monitors all the parolees who have been given an electronic ankle bracelet after being released from prison. The martial arts officers on the team are there to confront probation violators as needed and based on his heroics and his martial arts proficiency, Kim Sun-min believes Jung-do would be perfect for the job. With the support of his father and friend, Jung-do accepts the offer and, under the mentorship of Kim Sun-min, Jung-do hits the ground running as a martial arts officer!
- Fast Friends: Jung-do and Sun-min end up making one hell of a combination, with Jung-do proving that Sun-min’s instincts were right… he is perfect for this job. Sun-min not only is Jung-do’s boss and mentor, he becomes a friend of Jung-do… he even treats Jung-do and all his video game buddies to a dinner, and Sun-min becomes part of the friend group in the process. The bond between Jung-do and Sun-min had my action movie senses tingling, as I couldn’t help but worry that something awful was going to happen to Sun-min. And that’s really one of Officer Black Belt‘s biggest strengths, you can’t help but care about these characters. I also couldn’t help but think that Jung-do’s new job was going too smoothly. And that’s about the time the news breaks that a notorious child molester, Kang Ki-jung, was about to be released on parole.
- Rocky Road: The relatively smooth sailing that Jung-do experienced when he first accepted the position as martial arts officer, turns into a rocky road shortly after the release of Kang Ki-jung. The release has caused a great deal of public outcry and as result a special task force, led by Sun-min, is assembled to keep an eye on Kang Ki-Jung as he makes the transition from prison life to life on the outside. And sadly, it’s not long before we learn that Kang Ki-jung’s prison sentence did nothing to rehabilitate him, in fact it may have made him worse… now instead of just being a child molester, Kang Ki-jung has accepted a lot of money to make child pornography that will be sold on the dark web. Obviously, this vile piece of human garbage has to be stopped, but is he too much for the Kim Sun-min and Lee Jung-do to handle?!
Officer Black Belt balances action and emotion to create a story that just may hit you in the feels if you aren’t careful. Seeing Lee Jung-do go from a carefree, fun loving young man to a young man who decided to step up and then have to grow up before our very eyes is impactful for the viewers and for the people in Jung-do’s life. And how can’t you root for the public servants who devote their lives and put their lives on the line to police some of the worst humans that walk the face of the earth?!?! Throw in some quality fight scenes and at least five “bastards” being dropped and Officer Black Belt gets a big thumbs up from me!
Now let me throw in a few Bonus Bullet Points…
- If You Ever: …wanted to see someone use a mannequin as a weapon, then Officer Black Belt is the movie for you.
- Bastard Count: I counted at least five “bastards” being dropped in Officer Black Belt.
- If You Ever: …wanted an action hero to have the nickname Diarrhea, then Officer Black Belt is the movie for you.
