Please let this franchise hold delivering one new movie per yr for the remainder of my life. Please.
The 2024 version of the New York Asian Pageant runs July twelfth to July twenty eighth. Comply with together with our protection right here. And the twenty eighth version of the Fantasia Worldwide Movie Pageant runs July 18th to August 4th in lovely Montreal, Quebec. Comply with together with our protection right here.
On the danger of repeating myself, the previous few years have been very, excellent for followers of worldwide motion films. From Hong Kong/China to Norway, from Australia to Japan, we’re getting a robust and regular provide of kick-ass, cathartic brilliance within the type of motion cinema. South Korea has lengthy been using that wave, and their explicit prowess has resulted in some of the purely entertaining motion franchises in years. The Roundup: Punishment is the newest within the sequence delivering large enjoyable and even greater hits.
A younger Korean man is murdered abroad, and Det. Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok aka Don Lee for readability sake) makes the potential mistake of telling the person’s mom that he’ll make these accountable pay. When the investigation results in the high-tech world of on-line playing and a thug named Baek (Kim Mu-yeol), he’s advised the case doesn’t belong along with his murder staff. When the proof factors to a high-profile member of the town’s enterprise world named Chang (Lee Dong-hwi), he’s advised to tread flippantly. He’s advised loads of issues, however his fists ain’t listening.
Whereas 2017’s The Outlaws is an unassuming actioner most individuals dismissed as one and completed, it truly laid the groundwork for the sequels to return beginning 5 years later. Movies “loosely” impressed by squad of cops in South Korea, headed up by Ma’s even looser cannon with meaty fists and no time for assholes, and a tone mixing delicate comedy with face-slapping, bone-crunching, knife-slashing motion — these are the hallmarks fine-honed by the sequels The Roundup (2022), The Roundup: No Approach Out (2023), and now, The Roundup: Punishment. It’s as good a formulation as you might hope for as Don Lee’s outsized charms enliven each the nice and cozy laughs and the bloody beatdowns.
Whereas No Approach Out pits Ma towards a considerably lighter villain than two movies prior, Punishment sees a return to type on that entrance with Baek. He’s as brutal a killer as you might hope for, understanding full properly that Ma goes to make him pay by the tip, and Kim does nice work making him each a wickedly environment friendly fighter (particularly when he’s wielding a knife) and a coolly sadistic prick. His fights towards Ma thrill as velocity and metallic meet measurement and willpower, and each performers take nice benefit of the area round them leading to numerous damaged partitions, furnishings, and extra.
These title fights are weightier given the opponent, however Ma’s bodily encounters with different dangerous guys are all the time and undeniably pure bliss for viewers. He’s large however has velocity of his personal, and from one-hit knockouts to face slaps that ship guys flying, it’s simply immensely fulfilling to observe these thug-bugs hold getting in his face. As is the case with the earlier movies, The Roundup: Punishment retains its motion centered on extra grounded encounters versus large stunts or methodically choreographed fights, however it’s no much less efficient or thrilling in its relative simplicity.
Don Lee sits atop the pyramid describing this movie’s (and this franchise’s) enjoyment, as he’s a real and charismatic delight. A mild large, till his characters are pressured to behave in any other case, his occasional smile and comedic supply make for a character who beefs up any position. As Ma, he will get to unleash “the beast cop” beating down baddies, cracking smart, and letting himself be the butt of the jokes at occasions. These are the 2 pillars beneath him right here, the motion and the humor, and each proceed to be served extraordinarily properly. The laughs are aided equally by the script and the supporting solid, most of whom are returning gamers as a part of Ma’s cop squad. One standout, although, is a low-level criminal named Jang (Lee Beom-soo) who’s gone straight, nonetheless has horrible style in trend, and is a straightforward mark for Ma’s playful manipulation.
That is director Heo Myeong-haeng‘s first go on the franchise, and solely his second function after this yr’s Badland Hunters which additionally stars Don Lee, and The Roundup: Punishment is an absolute knockout. A switch-up on the prime can generally trigger disruption with a sequel, however he picks up the place Lee Sang-yong left issues to ship one other stellar entry in a franchise that I hope continues gifting us with extra pugilistic enjoyable each yr till I die.
The 2024 version of the New York Asian Pageant runs July twelfth to July twenty eighth. Comply with together with our protection right here. And the twenty eighth version of the Fantasia Worldwide Movie Pageant runs July 18th to August 4th in lovely Montreal, Quebec. Comply with together with our protection right here.
Associated Subjects: Motion, Fantasia Movie Pageant, Ma Dong-seok, NYAFF
Really helpful Studying
