Has the anti-hero trope run its course? Has the lone wolf who breaks all the rules morphed into the antisocial jerk who acts from a strictly self-serving interest? Are we really in the corners of assholes who don't appear to care about anyone but themselves simply because the world is shitting on them? Is charisma really enough to elevate a jerk to hero status? I grow depressed typing out these questions but I don't know what else to conclude from writer-director Lee Jeong-beom's corrupt-cop thriller Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage. It was the worst of times. It was the worst of men.
So let's concentrate on the women.
The wife (Lee Young-yoo) of the title character (Lee Sun-kyun) is pretty fascinating. She's supportive and independent, criminal without being corrupt, tough without being mean. She'd make a good lead! So would the film's ingenue (Jeon So-nee). She's got a sense of ethics, a streak of rebellion, and a decidedly unglamorous way of dressing. We don't spend nearly enough time with either of these ladies though. Instead, we watch as Jo Pil-ho mouths off, gets beats up, cheats, betrays, and poops out bullets for the 3-D laser-printed gun he's hidden in his faux arm cast. Not that this clever stratagem is going to prevent him from getting pummelled for the umpteenth time. Jo's a schmuck pretending to be an antihero who thinks he's a good guy when he's actually a boor.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment