K Movie Review: Extreme Job (2019) 4.3 || 4

We're in some sort of a K drama slump. We really liked Love Alarm so we thought of watching another Kim So Hyun drama. We picked Radio Romance but we were extremely bored with the first episode. When we're not sure if we should continue watching a drama, I usually check reviews online to see if a show's worth our time. First blog I check is Fan Girl Verdict. And when I saw that she dropped Radio Romance, we decided to stop watching it as well. 

My next pick was School Nurse Files featuring Jung Yu Mi. We loved her on Summer Vacation. And I thought I overcame my fear of thriller/horror/sci-fi stuff after enjoying Love Alarm and Train to Busan. But I was wrong. School Nurse Files was way too scary/odd for me. Although there were only around six episodes, I could still not imagine spending six nights scared and worried that I might have nightmares. Oppa was willing to give it another try. I was not. 

I finally settled on a classic, Coffee Prince, because I was intrigued with Gong Yoo after watching him on Train to Busan. Fan Girl Verdict also had a very favorable review of this drama so I decided to go for it. We're in the middle of watching it. And judging by our pace, I know Oppa is not completely happy with what we're watching. :D Hence, he suggested that we take a break and watch a film instead. And that's the long story on how we ended up watching this movie. 

I was completely clueless about this film so I had no expectations whatsoever. 

Story

Extreme Job is about a team of narcotics detectives. The members have not been doing so well and their chief threatened to disband their team if they don't shape up. Their latest task was to catch big-time drug  gangs. While they had a very viable lead, they were thrown off track a couple of times. 

The first road block was the fried chicken joint the team used for their stakeout while spying on the drug gangs. The owner was closing shop and they made a crazy decision of buying the restaurant. The team was now confronted with the silly problem of having too many customers. People loved their food and they could not solely focus on their mission of catching the drug gangs. 

Things fell into place eventually when one of the drug lords decide to invest on their chicken shop. He put up franchises of the restaurant as a front for drug dealing. 

The team went on to catch the bad guys and they were promoted and honored for catching these big drug gangs. 

The Good

For a movie and for actors that were unknown to us, we really liked the film. It was funny without being slapstick or over-the-top. The scenes and the storylines were realistic but very entertaining. 

The actors were all good. Their fight scenes were well-executed. 

Chief Go (Ryu Seung Ryong) was the team leader. He was a quiet guy who was really dedicated to his job. He cared about his team. 

Detective Young Ho (Lee Dong Hwi) was the one who really took their job seriously that he was often exasperated with his team's misplaced dedication to the chicken shop. Despite his doubts, however, he still stuck it out with his team. 

Detective Ma (Jin Seon Kyu) was the funny one. And the designated chef of the restaurant. Although he appeared to be all jokes, he turned out to be a really great fighter. 

Detective Jang (Lee Hanee) was the only girl in the team. I loved her. She looked totally badass, while still remaining feminine. She exuded this Rachel Weisz vibe. She was so cool. 

Detective Jae Hoon (Gong Myung) was the team's baby. He was a newbie who was so excited to make his first arrest. 

At first glance, it would seem weird that these people were put in one team. Their first operation shown on the film was an epic fail, you'd think they were totally incapable of doing their job. But the surprising plot twist towards the end of the film was that they were all very skilled - Chief Go has been stabbed a lot of times but he's still alive earning him the name zombie; Young Ho was a UDT (appears to be special forces used during wars); Ma was a member of the national judo team; Jang was a muay thai athlete; and Jae Hoon was a high school baseball player (who can endure beatings). The team was special, thus, they were able to catch the drug gangs even if they were totally outnumbered. 

I loved the film because the story was simple. It was an action film that did not resort to extreme gore or violence. It used comedy to get its story across. I know this has been done before but most of the funny action films I've seen were just too slapstick for my taste. Extreme Job, on the contrary, was able to perfectly and carefully balance the funny with the action stuff. It was equally exciting and funny. And it was definitely a perfect film to watch as an icebreaker that will hopefully help get us out of our drama slump. 

Oppa says...4.3.

Noona says...it's a 4.