The Policeman's Lineage (2022)

The Lineage Here Is Not Important

The importance of police and detective show is the motivation behind the character. That is one of the reason people watch this genre and for me 'The Policeman's Lineage' failed on that part. They didn't show much character introduction scene so the pacing on the first half of the movie was too fast and that made the rest duration a bit dragging.

I wished they included more of Choi Min Jae and Park Kang Yoon's backstory from the start, so viewer could relate to their character gradually. Why Min Jae chose to spy on Park Kang Yoon? Why he prioritized on being a good cop? Why Kang Yoon justified every way to get his goal?

You don't have to worry about acting. They casted amazing actors, especially Jo Jin Woong. He is famous for playing detective character and you can trust him on that. My issue here is Choi Woo Shik. First of all, I am a big fan of him and I follow every of his work. But I don't think he suits this detective role OR his character's writing affect his acting here in this movie. The rest supporting casts are excellent on their part.

I didn't expect much from this movie so I didn't get that disappointed. There is no remarkable scene or character and I don't get attached to neither the heroine or villain. They have this 'Lineage' concept but they don't really focus on that. I think 'The Policeman's Lineage' will be better as drama than movie, where they can give every side's perspective more screentime.

Is it a good movie? Good acting yes, good story? No. It is a bit boring for mystery crime genre and there is no thrilling exciting moment for me since the beginning to ending. Watch it when you have nothing to watch anymore.

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Simple and humble movie

Kyu-Man Lee directed The Policeman's Lineage, which stars Choi Woo-Shik, Cho Jin-Woong, Park Hee Soon, Kwon Yul, and others. The story follows a by-the-book police officer, Choi, played by Choi Woo-Shik, assigned to secretly investigate a team leader, Park (Cho Jin-Woong), who believes that the rules shouldn’t stop an investigation. As he investigates the officer further, he grows closer to him and starts questioning what to believe.


The film was, at best, generic. It had some good parts to it, but ultimately, the bad parts just overshadowed the good ones. Now, for the good parts...

》The Good《
☆1. Cho Jin-Woong Giving His Best
This film would have been dreadful if Cho Jin-Woong had not given a strong performance as the leader of a team of investigators. The film presents itself with two lead characters, the first whom played by Choi Woo-Shik, who was okay at moments and bad at others, but Jin-Woong, on the other hand, was consistent and solid throughout. Whenever he was onscreen, the scene instantly got better. His efforts were reflected in the script as well. While other characters were just generic police officers, they crafted his character brilliantly and made him intrigue to go along with his performance. And he was committed to the role. He gave his best to make you like, hate, and feel sympathy for him all in one film.
☆2. Solid Idea for A Film
It must be difficult to come up with a new premise for a film about cops, criminals, corruption, or any other topic relating to law enforcement. However, the screenplay writers for this film managed to find one. Focusing on the donations and funds South Korean police officers receive from sponsorship and how they have been used for and not for the purpose of investigation was quite unique. If only it were executed well enough. Speaking of executions...

》The Bad《
☆1. Muddled Execution
A solid idea comes to nothing if isn’t carried out well. For some unknown reason, the filmmaker did a poor job of delivering the message of the film. The message and the premise were there to be seen. It was obvious, but they decided to dance around it and added scenes that just don’t add anything to the overall story. The film should have been 30 minutes shorter as the story itself demanded such a runtime. But the filmmaker decided to make a 2-hour film, and to make it even worse, those 2-hours wasn’t even filled with moments of side characters development. A chunk of scenes from the film felt long and not needed and that muddled the execution of a solid idea.

☆2. Just A Blend World
If you have ever seen any police centric film from South Korea, then you have seen this film. Besides its strong core idea, the rest of the film was mediocre. The world presented to us was dull and uninteresting. On top of that, you have several police officers’ characters that are just so shallow and don’t bring anything to the film. Even the score was forgettable. The action was poorly crafted and shot. Basically, nothing about this film, other than the story itself and one good performance, was outstanding. This was saddening to watch, as it makes the film feel cheap despite the budget it might have had, considering the blatant product placement shown throughout the film. In general, the film had this blended way of presentation.

☆3. Who was The Villain?
In any film ever made, there will always be a villain or an antagonist to spoil the hero’s plan. This film sort of has a villain in Na Young-bin, played by Kwon Yul. He did his best to bring the character to life, but the script department let him down. The character was just there to fill in a check mark that a police-centric film needs a drug kingpin to be taken down. Indeed, you can’t write a perfect villain for every film. But all you needed to do was make him an obstacle for our heroes to overcome. The more difficulty the heroes face, the more likable they become. If that is not an option, then make us hate him with despicable actions and decisions so we can like the heroes who come in and try to stop him. Instead, we get a one-dimensional villain. Sure, the film tried to present the idea of whether the police are really the heroes in the story when they themselves use questionable methods to prevent crimes, but even that part was poorly executed. All the audience that would be left after watching this film would be someone they could truly hate and feel happy about seeing them receive their comeuppance.

》Overall Thoughts《
As mentioned earlier, you will forgot you have ever watched this film once the end of the year came. Despite a solid performance from one of the actors and a solid idea, the poor execution and poor writing resulted in a mediocre and forgettable film.

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