Another Public Enemy Review

Another Public Enemy
An honourable lawyer is trying to bring down a yuppie supercrook and his crooked masterplans...

by Kim Newman |
Published on
Release Date:

30 Sep 2005

Running Time:

148 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Another Public Enemy

Less a sequel to the 2002 Public Enemy than a reworking, this brings back star Sul Kyung-gu with the same character name (Kang Chul-joon) but as an entirely different investigator (a straight lawyer, not a crooked cop) after another smooth, dastardly yuppie supercrook (Jeong Jun-ho).

It’s a two-and-a-half-hour haul over old material, with a downtrodden but staunch hero and a villain so evil he runs over an old man who reprimands him for littering and proudly admits he didn’t support Korea in the World Cup! The simplistic story still works, though, with a rousing game of cat-and-mouse between dedicated, hangdog public prosecutor and smarmy, confident tycoon that brings in the usual clichés (a family-man cop gets killed), and is more interested in exposing Korean corruption than delivering full-on action.

Over-long and formulaic but sticks to what it does best.
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