Kim Kyung-ho is fired unjustly from his job at the university and as he searches for justice discovers that is not so easy to get it. He then decides to make a visit to the judge that dismissed his case... with a crossbow. The judge is shot, Kim Kyung-ho is detained and he decides to hire a new lawyer, a drunkard, quite the cynic, to help him in his new trial.Based on real facts, Unbowed is quite interesting, but it just follows the legal thriller formula, which hurts the movie, as it makes a compelling case seem a TV movie of the week. The direction is good enough, and the actors (specially Kim Kyung-ho's Sung-kee Ahn, who you will hate while respecting his search for justice and following the rules) do a good job. But the pace suffers from a lack of focus and only in the last part seems to find its footing. Here is where it shows how the movie could have been, and really makes Kim Kyung-ho's search worthwhile.

The movie is an inspiring story of a law-abiding conservative man's courageous fight against the tyranny of the judicial system of his country (South Korea). Some may see it as an idealization of a man's vice, but revolution always comes when such people stand against oppression.The movie's tagline, "Law Abiding Accused vs Law Abusing Judges", is quite apt. In a country where judges are not elected, and are appointed based on the results of a common law exam (regardless of formal education), there's no participation of the public at all, even as a jury. Such a state makes it vulnerable to corruption and mistrust.The movie's lead character, Kim Kyung-Ho (actual, Myung-Ho), is defined quite well, and is portrayed brilliantly by Sung-kee Ahn. The remaining characters are interesting as well, and keep the story going.There isn't a single dull moment. Both the initial and the main cases are quite intriguing.