The ending of Officer Black Belt sums up the theme that has been running throughout the entire movie – the burgeoning sense of duty and responsibility experienced by Lee Jung-do in his transition from carefree gamer and athlete to proud lawman.
Sure, the climax is in large part about beating up the bad guys, but that’s the surface. What’s underlying is the transition from a temporary position to a permanent one; the growth of a man into his role in life. It’s meaningful in that sense, though it still, overall, isn’t very good.
But let’s break down the journey and plot specifics anyway, just for fun.
Jung-do Realizes His Purpose
Since it takes a while for Officer Black Belt to get going, the plot properly begins when the team – Jung-do, Kim Sun-min, and Min-jo – attempt to chase down a violent child abuser named Kang Ki-jung. This movie is oddly obsessed with child and sexual abuse crimes, and one of Ki-jung’s potential victims, a small girl named Min-ju whom Jung-do liberates from his clutches, becomes a kind of totem of his newfound sense of responsibility.
After being finessed by Ki-jung, Min-jo ends up braindead and Sun-min has his neck broken, though thankfully without any nerve damage, which gives him a healthy prognosis. Since Ki-jung is able to escape during his confrontation with Jung-do, we have a clear and obvious setup for the movie’s finale.
Officer Black Belt’s Ending Is Not About the Action
While he’s technically not employed, Jung-do believes that it is nonetheless his responsibility to bring Ki-jung to justice before he makes any more snuff films. To this end, he recruits his gamer friends to help track the guy down. None are any good in a fight, but they do have their share of useful skills, and if nothing else, they prevent Jung-do from getting too carried away.
But, again, everything that the ending of Officer Black Belt is trying to say is bundled up in a conversation Jung-do has with his father, who tries to warn him against putting himself in danger unnecessarily. Jung-do cites the hope and security that Min-ju has garnered from him as justification for putting himself on the line. He can’t allow Ki-jung to create more victims like her who might not have their own Jung-do to save them.
So, predictably, the move culminates in a giant action sequence with Jung-do and his friends taking down Jung-do with the help of his martial arts skills and a drone. The nerdy kids whose only previous experiences with conflict and violence were in video games managed to save the day. How many of us can relate to that?
But Jung-do’s true ending comes when he’s awarded for his bravery and Min-ju dares to brave the outside world to thank him personally. It’s a nice moment and proves Jung-do’s theory that he was, after all, doing the right thing.
Officer Black Belt ends with Jung-do becoming a full-time martial arts officer alongside a now-recovered Sun-min.
