The Roundup

this is somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars for me. The next best action series since Jackie Chan, in terms of movies with clear heroes, and I guess that is saying something.

Ma Dong-seok is an action hero like you’ve never seen before! Director Lee Sang-yong’s South Korean crime action thriller The Roundup (2022) is hilarious, brutal, violent, creative, and exciting. Lee Sang-yong’s direction feels stylish and fast moving with plenty of entertaining martial arts fights. The Roundup is a bit like The Night Comes for Us, Kill Boksoon, Memories of Murder mixed with Beasts Clawing at Straws besides being a killer sequel to The Outlaws. Lee Sang-yong’s direction pulls off multiple knife attacks, martial arts duels, brutal shootings, and shocking serial killings. I enjoyed Ma Dong-seok’s hero bickering with his whining police captain as well as him roughing up endless bad guys with strong arm tactics. Writers Lee Sang-yong, Don Lee, Lee Young-jong, and Kim Min-sung craft a grim picture of bloody violence. They depict the squalor people have to live in throughout Vietnam, but also how ineffective the police are at stopping a serial killer and kidnapper. This is a wild true case too that’s pretty gruesome with grisly murders that happened in the Philippines. The crazy thing is that there is still an unconfirmed number of victims. The Roundup is an interesting critique of Koreans traveling to Vietnam to get away with awful crimes overseas. You see how much police brutality, ruthless interrogations, lawless crime sprees, vicious stabbings, gambling halls, and kidnapping goes on around the world. There’s funny tensions between the Korean and Vietnamese police, since our Korean heroes are outside of their legal jurisdiction. Ma Dong-seok is ultra cool as the massive muscular Police Lieutenant Ma Seok-do of Serious Crimes Unit at Geumcheon Police Station in South Korea. His gigantic fists and arms punch through suspects and crooks alike. His brute force style that takes no lip from anyone is hilarious to witness. He’s very likable and funny too without trying. You believe he’s stronger than Arnold Schwarzenegger with ease. He kicks the villain through a bus and punches his head through a windshield. Choi Gwi-hwa’s ever-complaining police Captain Jeon Il-man is a riot. He’s a fun foil for Ma Dong-seok. Heo Dong-won’s amiable Detective Sergeant Oh Dong-gyun is still amusing here. Ha Jun is nice as the young Detective Kang Hong-seok. Jung Jae-kwang is fun as the new Rookie Detective Kim Sang-hoon. Son Suk-ku is ruthless as the knife wielding serial killer and kidnapper Kang Hae-sang. His dead eyed looks are chilling and his knife stabbings are shocking. Park Ji-hwan’s greedy gangster Jang Yi-soo is a scream. How the cops just him him for leads and later as a driver is genuinely hysterical. Nam Moon-chul’s stern businessman Choi Choon-baek and Park Ji-young’s clever and grieving wife Kim In-sook. Lee Joo-won is pleasant as Park Chang-soo, the Consulate General in Vietnam. Jeon Jin-oh is a blast as the self-surrendered criminal Yoo Jong-hoon, who is the reason Ma Dong-seok goes to Vietnam to set off the story. Editor Kim Sun-min’s slick cuts makes all the fights visceral, yet easily coherent to follow. Cinematographer Ju Sung-lim’s wide and medium shots are beautiful. The vivid lighting by Choi Jong-ha looks striking. The car stunt driving and brawling stunts by Yoon Seong-min, Heo Myeong-haeng, Jeon Jae-hyeong, Seo Ji-oh, and Kwon Ji-hoon are impressive. Composers Kim Tae-seong and Jeong Sang-woo craft intensity with their visceral film score. Sound designers Kim Gi-nam, Ahn Sung-il, and Park Yong-ki make Ma Dong-seok’s punches sound like bowling balls hitting the perpetrators. Costume designer Nam Ji-soo provides all these fun leather jackets and suits. Makeup Nam Ji-soo and Pi Dae-seong make the ensemble look gritty and do realistic slash wounds. Overall, The Roundup is even more brutal and exciting than The Outlaws for a fabulously fun 106 minutes.

Gory and Hilarious!!! Seriously, I’ve never encountered a film quite like this. It’s as if Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry and Jackie Chan decided to have a wild baby, resulting in one of the most epic cop flicks ever! The acting? Absolutely top-notch. And for all you English speakers out there, the dub on Amazon is pretty solid, but trust me, experiencing it in the original language is pure bliss. Do yourself a solid and check this movie out!

After the Outlaws, this piece of art was introduced. MY GOD, I WAS MIND BLOWN! The actors played their roles really well. Don't get even get me started on how well the choreography was done, it's heavily underappreciated!! The story is simple but the mix of comedy and action really brought it together! You must watch this!!!

Love the big guy, kind of Bud Spencer with blood on his knuckles! Ultra violence and gags make for an interesting mix.

fyre and funny <33333

One of the best movie in my playlist

That scene on the bus. Ma Dong Seok, i cant LOL

good 👍 amazing action movie 👏👏👏

This series really hits it's stride here with a great balance of action, humour and solid characters.