FANTASIA FESTIVAL eats up South Korea’s EXTREME JOB

EXTREME JOB

DIRECTOR: Lee Byeong-heon

WRITER: Bae Se-young

CAST: Ryoo Seung-ryong, Lee Hanee, Lee Dong-hwi, Jin Seon-kyu, Gong Myoung, Shin Ha-kyu, Oh Jeong-se, Kim Eui-sung

A ragtag group of misfit cops wind up running a fried chicken joint as an undercover narcotics investigation, but they soon find themselves in for an overwhelming surprise when the restaurant becomes successful! 

EXTREME JOB is a very fun and very ridiculous action comedy. It’s like a South Korean take on Police Academy for this modern era of food obsessed trendsetters. It’s also one of the top grossing comedies in South Korea that’s been breaking all kinds of box office records. Oh, and the inevitable American remake is currently in development with Kevin Hart.

EXTREME JOB is one of those stupid ideas that make a great movie. You can just sit back and enjoy it, because the premise is so out there and goofy, that you can’t help but like it. 

It’s got that quirky but likeable cast full of nut-bars that you’re always rooting for. The in-over-his-head captain, the overly enthusiastic newbie, the tougher-than-the-guys sole woman on the squad, and the crazy goofball turned chef. Extreme Job masterfully takes the classic tropes and makes it work. The packed FANTASIA FESTIVAL crowd went absolutely bonkers for these guys, often getting multiple applause breaks and loud fits of laughter over the team’s sheer lunacy.

When these guys screw up on the job, they screw up hard. They still get the job done, but wow, do they screw up. On such a grand and glorious scale. It’s a total dad film. The kind of film where your dad would be there just laughing at how dumb and far fetched stuff is, but ultimately doesn’t care, because it’s just just dumb and funny.

And then the action-comedy cop film shifts gears to become a  restaurant comedy about fried chicken!? All while still being about a Narcotics Squad investigating a Meth Dealer. But hey, they’re really good at this chicken thing, maybe they shouldn’t disappoint the customers? I mean, they’re actually really, really, really good at this chicken thing, maybe the drug dealers can wait?

Again, this concept is totally bonkers, and shouldn’t work, but it does. Everything ties in perfectly, it twists and turns in brilliant ways, and you still get your action-packed finale full of more batshit crazy fun. It’s an epic fight scene with multiple things going on at once and some amazing stunts with the same amount of over-the-top comedic antics.

All this and probably one of the funniest car pile-ups in cinematic history. No, really. You can probably look that up, too. It’s wild.

If you need a goofy break, a serving of fantastic ass-kicking action and laugh out loud comedy, give EXTREME JOB a try. The FANTASIA FESTIVAL crowd ate it up like a plate of sticky Suwon BBQ Fried chicken, and so did I. Hell, I would have gladly taken seconds. 

Fantasia runs through Concordia until August 1st!

EXTREME JOB is available on streaming or for rental on YOUTUBE.

Expect the American version sometime in the near future.