When I heard about THE POLICEMAN'S LINEAGE, another undercover cop drama from South Korea, I expected a lot. The country has a fine history of making compelling and exciting genre films and I hoped this would offer more of the same. Sadly, the end result is a distinctly average production that never really gets off the ground, despite the usual sterling production values and attention to detail. The hero, played by the kid from PARASITE, is sent in undercover to investigate a corrupt cop and his buddies, and the story develops from there. The usual shades-of-grey characters are interesting but the film never really thrilled me in the way I hoped it would. Instead I was left thinking, so what?

Based on the Japanese novel "Blood of the Policeman" written by Joh Sasaki. Choi Min Jae (Choi Woo-sik) is a by-the-books police officer who is assigned to secretly investigate team leader Park Gang Joon (Cho Jin-woong), who is speculated to cross the line between cop and criminal to receive intel.

As the investigation ensues and allegiances are made, Min Jae must determine whether his loyalties lie with Gang Joon or those who assigned him. Despite an all-too-familiar storyline, the first act is compelling as it conveys the motivation behind why Min Jae had taken on the assignment. The performance from leading man Choi Woo-sik reels you in based on his personal conflict towards wanting to be a righteous cop or bending the rules to catch perpetrators at hand. The film is sleek and stylish in itself as the characters are required to dress up or dress down depending on who they engage with, and the scenes are mostly shot during the night-time providing a sense of grittiness to the atmosphere.

Where the film falters lies in the lack of coherency based on the various subplots introduced, which often become difficult to follow and confusing for the viewer.

Not to mention, the ending is anti-climatic. Leaving unanswered questions. And the viewer isn't motivated enough to see where the next chapter will lead due to the underdevelopment of characters.

One only concludes that this film would have faired better, if under a different writer.

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