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‘I, the Executioner’ Review: A South Korean Serial-Killer-Action-Comedy Sequel
Ryoo Seung-wan's 'Veteran' follow-up 'I, the Executioner' deconstructs the police action genre.
As more vigilante murders come to light, targeting criminals who slipped through the system’s cracks, online influencers dub the film’s secret avenging angel “Haechi,” after the mythical lion-esque creature in Chinese and Korean folklore that judges sinful people. To introduce a villain that so overtly reflects its heroes’ flaws is nothing short of a comic-book-superhero flourish, which is fitting, given how much Ryoo’s seedy vision of metropolitan South Korea this time around resembles the gaudy depths of Gotham City. “I, the Executioner” has no shortage of intense action — one rooftop fight in the rain is particularly ingenious, with characters slipping and sliding their way through close-quarters combat — but its intimate climactic scenes bring the movie full-circle after its many dour detours, as Ryoo reaches back into his slapstick toolbox, and does what he does best.
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