Officer Black Belt

A delivery boy learns that kicking people in the throat can help society, in Jason Kim’s buddy cop film.

“Is it fun? That’s important to me.”

Jung-do (Lee Jung-do) is a black belt in several martial arts working as a delivery boy for his father’s restaurant. One evening, while working, he witnesses an attack on a probation officer by a criminal and steps in to help him. His good deed lands him a job with the force as a martial arts officer in the probation, partnered with Su-min (Kim Sung-kyun) and the two form a strong bond. Things, however, intensify when serial rapist Kang Ki-jung is released from prison, and immediately goes back to being a total piece of shit. 

Officer Black Belt distinguishes itself pretty early by setting an upbeat, cheerful tone and gives us a protagonist who is optimistic, good-hearted and never uses his immense physical prowess to punch down. Lee Jung-do plays his lead role with tonnes of charisma and it’s this, paired with the director’s choice to keep things light that allows the movie to dip into some seriously dark territory without becoming overbearing. 

Officer Black Belt is an incredibly sincere film, with some really sweet character moments and charming interactions wrapped in the appearance of a grittier drama. This tone made me think that it would, thematically, go in one direction but interestingly, at no point does the movie extol the virtues of rehabilitation. Almost none of the criminals they interact with want to be good citizens again. I suppose it would be kind of tedious if we didn’t get to see Jung-do fight much, but this sort of film really does feel like it would have gone down that narrative path. In a way, it’s quite refreshing.

That said, the film eventually starts to follow samey story beats, once things go awry and half the team is taken out of commission. It’s great to see Jung-do team up with his friends, but you do lose some of the initial charm of the movie by having [spoilers, I guess] Su-min spend half the movie in the hospital. Still, the action remains consistently entertaining and Jung-do is a strong enough character, played by a talented actor, that he can carry the film even when it gets a little bit dour.

 Ultimately, Officer Black Belt is a very fun film with plenty of action, but not so much that it feels overstuffed. It’s a perfect blend of comedy, drama and fights that doesn’t overstay its welcome. If you like buddy cop action, and don’t mind some pretty heavy topics this is the sort of film that’ll give you what you need. My biggest gripe is that it’s not a film that merits a lot of discussion; it’s about as straightforward as this kind of film can get. This means there’s not a lot of room for interesting discourse, but sometimes you just want a decently-made action film and that’s what this provides.

Verdict: Predictable but highly entertaining, Officer Black Belt proves there’s space in the genre for innovation and, importantly, heart.

Overall entertainment: 8/10
Violence: 5/10
Sex: It would be in somewhat bad taste to rank it
Actual rehabilitations: 0
Hyperviolent moments: It’s a Korean action film, of course it gets gory.
Gear: If you don’t have tactical gloves, what are you doing?

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Officer Black Belt (2024)
Also known as: 무도실무관
Korean

Director: Jason Kim
Writer: Jason Kim

CAST

Kim Woo-bin – Lee Jung-do
Kim Sung-kyun – Kim Sun-min