I know, I know; it's a bad idea to watch the second film in a series if you haven't seen the first. Luckily for me, Another Public Enemy is a thematic sequel rather than a story-arc sequel for director Woo-Suk Kang's Public Enemy, so no advance knowledge of the characters was necessary. Besides, just look at the cover art; it promises that there are "no laws," "no rules" and "no way out." Plus, there are motorcycles! And a massive explosion! With these hallmarks of traditional action movies, I admit I just couldn't resist, as even I like to spend a few mindless hours watching things blow-up ridiculously every now and again.

Two rock-music punctuated fight scenes in the first twenty minutes had me fooled going in that Another Public Enemy was the standard action film with a loose cannon cop and cookie-cutte villain. (If this were a Hollywood movie, I'm quite convinced it would be called Motorcycle Madness, and would feature Vin Diesel (or Mel Gibson, if it were still 1985) and an explosion every 10 minutes or so.) However, once the proper plot began, I learned this was not the case. Instead, Another Public Enemy is a character driven drama about flawed but dedicated Public Prosecutor, Chul-jung Kang (Kyung-gu Sol) and his ongoing struggle to defend the rights of the everyman in a society that favors the rich and powerful.

Sigh. So much for empty and senseless violence. Luckily, I dig on good drama too. (What can I say? I'm easy to please.)

Prosecutor Kang is a rogue and cad. He harasses his friends into providing free meals, he makes his boss' job exceedingly difficult by bending the rules to suit his own needs, he teases the prisoners, and he doesn't always stand on social niceties. Yet, he manages to be an extraordinarily endearing character (as rogues often are) - wry, sometimes charming, and unfailing committed to his cause and his men. You can imagine how such a man might react when he discovers his childhood nemesis Sang-woo Han (Jun-ho Jeong), a privileged boy who often got away with metaphorical murder when they were at school, might well be getting away with literal murder now that they're both grown. And not just murder; but possibly also embezzlement, bribery, money laundering and so on.

A Public Prosecutor and a multi-tasking criminal? Clearly this school of theirs really raised some overachievers. Perhaps it's lucky for everyone that Sang-woo Han, in his role as acting chairman of the school (a position he inherited following his father's unexpected heart-attack, and his elder brother's tragic and unexplained coma-inducing accident just two weeks later) is slowly liquidating the school and all its assets. Sang-woo Han, is my ideal movie villain: an unapoliogeticlly narcissistic, glad-handing, arrogant bastard with a welcoming smile, an icy glare, a natty wardrobe, and some serious sang-froid. It's fine for Good Guys to have character flaws, but in my book, Bad Guys should be bad, and Han is downright despicable. Give him some gadgets and a funny name, and he'd be worth to battle Bond himself.

Interestingly, although the film is ostensibly about Prosecutor Kang and his ethical struggles, it his relationships with the supporting cast, rather than the investigative process, that drives the film along. Another Public Enemy is a movie that favors dialog over action...a fact which is made evident by the number of times characters appear only as talking heads rather than as active players in their surroundings. Even characters in the same room, having the same conversation are shown one at a time, either speaking or reacting to what's being said. Thankfully, the movie has two major strengths. One is the dialog itself, which is well-rounded, and realistic; moving easily from warm and funny to pragmatic or poignant. The other is the cast, who masterfully handles the dialog and the subject matter. Particularly outstanding is Kyung-gu So, whose performance as the playfully stoic and earnestly passionate Prosecutor Kang is what keeps the movie intriguing to watch, even after it passes the posterior-numbing two-hour mark and begins to belabor its point. The moments where Prosecutor Kang and "Prince Han" spar - both verbally and physically - are the most intense, and interesting in the film.

The unfortunate bit is that, on top of being well-acted, believable characters, Kang and Han are also mouthpieces for the movie's message: sometimes, rich and powerful people believe they are above both morality and the law...and those people need to be held accountable for their actions. This is made evident in the film in many ways: the hardworking champions for the public good (law enforcement officials, teachers) make just enough to live on, while men like Han live in luxury thanks to an inheritance, without having to lift a finger; cops play by the rules while villains get rich ignoring the law, and, perhaps most tellingly - golf - that game of the affluent - lies at the heart of Han's plans to launder his money and remove it (and himself) from the country. But just in case you don't derive the message from those cues, don't worry, Kang and Han have conversations that reiterate the point. Over and over again.

Despite it's heavy-handed message of justice under the law for everyman (lack of a proper soundtrack and a disappointingly low ratio of explosions per minute), Another Public Enemy is a thoughtful and enjoyable film, which is worth watching for the performances alone. In fact, I plan on tracking down Public Enemy just to see Kyung-gu Sol in another role.

DVD extras include director and cast commentary track, a making of featurette, a behind-the-scenes featurette about a car crash effect which takes place in one of the few action sequences, the original theatrical trailer, and the usual collection of Tartan Extreme upcoming releases (among which, I am happy to note, are Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and OldBoy, two of my favorite revenge stories of all time.)