After seven outings as a director, KANG Woo-suk struck box office glory with his smash hit buddy cop action-comedy Two Cops, which united two of the biggest stars of the day (AHN Sung-ki and PARK Joong-hoon) in what would become the second most successful Korean film of 1993. Leaning on many popular archetypes ported over from Hollywood cinema, the film was a precursor to the renaissance of the local industry that would soon follow and which KANG would become a major figure of, both as a director and a producer with his successful production company Cinema Service.
After his partner is bumped off the force for being on the take, Detective CHO (AHN Sung-ki) is saddled with a new partner, Detective KANG (PARK Joong-hoon), a top graduate straight out of the police academy who is keen to observe every letter of the law. The two don’t see eye-to-eye at first, but a series of brutal slayings forces them to pool their talents and resources to track down the killer. Over time, KANG’s straight-laced attitude softens and the two start to dabble in some moral gymnastics when they come into possession of a briefcase filled with cocaine.
Two Cops follows the popular buddy cop action-comedy formula that had been made popular in the United States through the likes of 48 Hrs., Lethal Weapon and all their respective sequels. AHN Sung-ki takes on the role of the veteran cop, who has become amoral over the years and isn’t above accepting bribes, while PARK plays the straight-laced rookie detective straight out of the academy who is shocked by his superior’s behavior. The central dynamic, which mines humor from dueling masculinities, is propped up by the set pieces and the thrills of an investigative narrative.
Two Cops was followed by two sequels, though only PARK appears in the second, also directed by KANG, and neither of the original stars are present for the third entry, which was the directorial debut of future Attack The Gas Station! (1999) director KIM Sang-jin, who served as an assistant director to KANG Woo-suk during the 1990s. KANG would later go on to combine several characteristics of both his Two Cops protagonists into his Public Enemy trilogy which ran from 2002 to 2008 with SUL Kyung-gu in the lead.
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