WFG RATING: A-

Netflix presents a Climax Studio/Seven O Six production. Written and directed by Jason Kim Joo-Hwan. Cinematography by Teo Lee. 

Stars Kim Woo-Bin, Kim Sung-Kyun, Lee Hyun-Geol, Lee Joong-Ok, Kang Seung-Ho, Yoon Dae-Yul, Park Ji-Yeol, Jin Mi-Sa, Lee Jung-Gwi, and Bang Byung-Hyun

What looks like it could be a total action-comedy turns into a serious matter in this Korean film that just debuted on Netflix.

Lee Jung-Do is not your ordinary delivery boy or e-sports player. He is a martial arts expert as well, holding third degree black belts in taekwondo and judo as well as being a trained expert in kendo. One night, while making deliveries, he comes across a cop being beaten up by a criminal who had escaped house arrest. After saving the cop, Jung-Do is offered a temporary job as the “martial arts officer” to probation officer Kim while the cop he saved recovers. 

Learning the ropes of his new position, Jung-Do eventually forms a great bond with Kim and the team. The experience makes him decide to do something different with his life. He decides he wants to keep the job and have Cho, the cop he saved, serve as a mentor alongside Kim. When sex offender Kang Ki-Jung is out on probation, Jung-Do is offered to help on the team as the “martial arts officer” alongside Cho with Kim in charge of probation. However, a series of events involving Kang will lead to shocking revelations and Jung-Do will soon learn he may have a formidable opponent in his hands. 

Written and directed by Jason Kim Joo-Hwan, this Korean action film starts out a bit of an action-comedy. The film revolves around a martial artist who finds himself offered a job as the “martial arts officer” of a probation officer, which leads into buddy comedy territory. However, the second half of the film goes into a more serious matter as it involves a major case where a sex offender on probation is offered and accepts to go back to his old ways all in the name of the mighty dollar, leading to some jaw-dropping twists. 

Kim Woo-Bin is excellent in the titular role of “Officer Black Belt” Lee Jung-Do. He is seen in the film’s opening moments showcasing his various skills in e-sports and various forms of martial arts. Moments later, we see him taking on a criminal with an ankle tag who is beating up martial arts officer Cho. The job of the martial arts officer is to serve as an enforcer for the probation officer in charge of ensuring the criminal stays in house or keep their tag charged. Kim does his fight scenes pretty well, sometimes using a little comedy and sometimes a little anger when it comes to certain scenes.

His scenes with Kim Sung-Gyun’s Kim are what you would expect in a buddy comedy. The hot shot ace teamed up with the straight-laced veteran. However, it becomes a mentor-protege relationship that eventually becomes a brotherly relationship. So when Kim is seriously injured in the end of the second act,it kicks up Lee to take the job extremely seriously, especially when he nearly is killed himself saving a 10-year-old girl from the film’s central villain. What’s great is the villain himself is also a fighter, which Lee knows after he notices the callouses on his knuckles on the day of his release. 

The action scenes are nicely done, allowing Kim to show he can fight in films. Using a combination of judo, taekwondo, and kendo. The training scenes show how good Lee will use those skills on the streets save for one scene where he manages to just kick a criminal in the nards before learning how to, and enjoy using a taser on him. The final two set action pieces are the best of the bunch as they get insanely serious and unleash mayhem to say the least.

Officer Black Belt is highly recommended as it has a change in the lead character from fun and outgoing to taking the job seriously with Kim Woo-Bin showcasing his talents as an actor and a pretty good on-screen fighter.