Public Enemy Returns (DVD) (Limited Edition) (Korea Version) DVD Region 3

Franchise man Sol Kyung Gu reprises as aggressive, law-breaking, washed-up cop Kang Chul Jung, who's softened up considerably since the first film, but is still in great need of anger management. He's also stopped taking money on the side, and debt only adds to bitterness. Kang Chul Jung is threatening to call it quits - though no one's taking him too seriously - but his notorious temper and sense of violent justice get going again when he encounters new nemesis Lee Won Sul, a smartly dressed CEO and mafia boss whose organization recruits teens to do their dirty work.

The raging anger and cringing fight scenes of the first film are still present and accounted for in the sequel, but this time, there's better impetus to drive the violence. Though I like Public Enemy, I also find it so senselessly angry and hard-boiled that it's at times difficult to watch. The corrupt and uncontrollable Kang Chul Jung of Public Enemy makes for an interesting anti-hero, but he's also an off-putting character that inspires empathy only in so much that he's portrayed by the wonderful Sol Kyung Gu, and because his murderous target (Lee Sung Jae) is so morally unredeemable.

The slightly reformed Kang Chul Jung of Public Enemy Returns makes for a more complex and far more likable protagonist. He's still a rampant madman who should have been kicked off the force, if not locked up, a long time ago, but the dry humor and greater focus on the father-daughter relationship humanizes his temperament. And the righteous anger over the wayward youth pulled into the mess almost makes him heroic in a traditional cop film kind of way. Similarly, Jung Jae Young's smooth-talking family-man mafia boss never seems comically evil, like Lee Sung Jae did in the first film, but rather a cool and worthy adversary, making the rivalry a lot more interesting. The verbal barbs traded between Sol Kyung Gu and Jung Jae Young in the film, courtesy of Jang Jin's mighty pen, are as entertaining as the fisticuffs that follow.

Though not necessary per se to understand the story of Public Enemy Returns, watching Public Enemy first is advisable in order to appreciate how Kang Chul Jung has evolved between the two films. There's no need to worry if you haven't seen the first, because the Limited Edition of Public Enemy Returns actually comes with Public Enemy as a bonus disc, so you get both movies in one lean set.