{"id":23249,"date":"2024-05-01T22:58:42","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T02:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=23249"},"modified":"2024-06-01T18:32:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T22:32:56","slug":"the-roundup-punishment-don-lees-beast-cop-is-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=23249","title":{"rendered":"The Roundup: Punishment: Don Lee’s Beast Cop is Back"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

\u00a9Courtesy of Capelight Pictures International<\/p>\r\n

Det. Ma Seuk-do makes Jack Reacher and the Rock look puny and weak. South Korea\u2019s criminal underworld refers to him as the \u201cBeast Cop,\u201d but he is an old softie at heart. When the mother of a murdered programmer commits suicide out of grief, he takes it hard, so he hits the bad guys even harder in Heo Myung-haeng\u2019s \u201cThe Roundup: Punishment<\/strong>,\u201d the fourth film in the blockbuster Korean franchise starring Don Lee (a.k.a. Ma Dong-seok<\/a>).

The series started with \u201cThe Outlaws<\/strong>\u201d (2017) and continued with \u201cThe Roundup<\/strong>\u201d (2022) and \u201cThe Roundup: No Way Out<\/strong>\u201d (2023), so the producers are clearly committed to the \u201cRoundup<\/strong>\u201d branding. Each film was a massive hit in South Korea, so fans remain committed to the physically imposing Lee and his two-fisted action beatdowns, as well.

At this point, Det. Ma achieved some notoriety for past success and a few \u201cincidents\u201d that were more widely reported in the press than his superiors might prefer. Past cases have taken him abroad, as when Ma busted a Vietnamese kidnapping ring targeting Koreans in \u201cThe Roundup<\/strong>,\u201d but it is hard to know where to find the transnational gang of cyber criminals that killed Jo Sung-jae, after forcing him to maintain their online casino\u2019s secret servers, in the Philippines.<\/p>\r\n

\"The<\/p>\r\n

\u00a9Courtesy of Capelight Pictures International<\/p>\r\n

Ma wants to take down both their foreign back-end facilities and the kingpins based in Korea. To do that, he recruits his old informer and reluctant collaborator, Jang Yi-soo, whose comic relief duties in the \u201cRoundup<\/strong>\u201d films compare to Joe Pesci\u2019s in the \u201cLethal Weapon<\/strong><\/a>\u201d movies. As fate would have it, Jang once tried to open his own online casino in the Philippines, but the thuggish Baek Chang-gi literally smashed it to bits, before it could launch.

Feeling under-compensated for his dirty work, including the murder of Jo, Baek returns to Seoul to confront his bosses, former tech start-up whiz kid Chang Dong-cheol and the more conventionally corporate President Kwon. That means Ma could get his large hands on Baek, by working with Det. Han Ji-soo of the Seoul Metropolitan Police\u2019s cyber division. She is not accustomed to his team\u2019s methods, but she quickly recognizes their effectiveness.<\/p>\r\n

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Don Lee\u2019s \u201cRoundup<\/strong>\u201d films provide a viewing experience very much like that of vintage 1980s Schwarzenegger movies. Lee (who also happens to be president of the Korean arm-wrestling federation) has a similarly larger than life screen-presence and an amiable flair for self-deprecating humor. When his fists connect with thugs, they are often sent flying, taking on air, like Michael Jordan during his glory days. It might sound cartoony, but like the previous series directors, Heo keeps the action feeling grounded.<\/p>\r\n


\"The<\/p>\r\n

\u00a9Courtesy of Capelight Pictures International<\/p>\r\n

Perhaps one could uncharitably describe the \u201c films as \u201cformulaic,\u201d but the word \u201cdependable\u201d is considerably more apt. Fans know Lee will deliver the hard-charging fight scenes, while mining Det. Ma\u2019s \u201caw shucks\u201d persona for quietly ironic laughs, in between the brawls. \u201cThe Roundup: Punishment<\/strong>\u201d does not disappoint. In fact, Ma\u2019s climactic showdown with Baek might be the most cathartically satisfying slugfest of the entire franchise, so far.

Kim Mul-yeol\u2019s brutally intense portrayal of the cyber-gang\u2019s enforcer makes him one of the franchise\u2019s fiercest antagonists, probably second only to the slimily sinister kidnapper in \u201cThe Roundup<\/strong>\u201d (2022, no subtitle). \u201cPunishment<\/strong>\u201d takes an entertaining caper-like turn, when Det. Ma\u2019s team creates a fake online casino to lure in the bad guys, which somewhat further distinguishes it from the previous films. None of Ma\u2019s colleagues get much character development time of their own in \u201cPunishment<\/strong>.\u201d However, Heo and screenwriter Oh Sang-ho find the right balance for the neurotic Jang Yi-soo (again played by Park Ji-hwan), maximizing his on-the-make persona for comic relief, but not over-indulging in his stickiness.

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Of course, there is never any doubt Don Lee is the star. Like the previous \u201cRoundups<\/strong>,\u201d \u201cPunishment<\/strong>\u201d can easily be enjoyed as a stand-alone film. Frankly, viewers need only take one look at massive Det. Ma to understand the premise, which still works brilliantly. That said, once you watch one, you will probably want to another. Pound for pound, this is the most reliable action franchise currently producing new installments, much more so than \u201cFast and Furious<\/strong>.\u201d Very highly recommended for action fans, \u201cThe Roundup: Punishment<\/strong>\u201d opens this Friday (5\/3) in theaters.

Grade: A-<\/p>\r\n

Check out more of Joe’s articles.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Here’s the trailer of the film.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n