With just enough variation on its winning formula and a committed as ever Ma Dong-seok, The Roundup: Punishment is everything I wanted from the franchise's fourth film.
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The Roundup franchise is one of my favorite ongoing action series. It's a barebones cop chases criminal franchise with a career-defining role from Ma Dong-seok, or Don Lee to American audiences, as Ma Seok-do that perfectly meshes with his sensibilities as an actor and action performer. He's the unstoppable cop force that goes up against immovable murderous objects and comes out on top every time thanks to his boxing prowess. So what do you change up for movie four to give it some extra bite? Expand the scope and make it a bit more personal.
The Setup
The film begins with a Korean worker who is killed after fleeing his boss, a former Special Forces Officer, in the Philippines. A murder that garners the attention of Ma Seok-do, who makes a promise to the deceased's mother to bring his killer to justice. But with a killer whose expertise goes beyond Seok-do's own with no semblance of a conscience, can he still bring the man to justice?
In my review of The Roundup: No Way Out, I explained the basic formula and core appeal of the franchise. Specifically how the stories more or less occur separately from one another until the cops figure things out and Seok-do beats people in the face. It's neo-noir and action comedy blended into one.
Punishment is still operating under this winning formula with a couple of noteworthy changes.
So let's start with the most obvious one: the kind of crime.
Online Crime
One of my biggest pet peeves in movies involving any kind of online crime is that they don't have any idea of what they're talking about. The number of recent action thrillers that included crypto or NFTs without an understanding of what those actually entail or their real value has irked me to no end.
Which is why this movie was a breath of fresh air because not only do they acknowledge that our lead cop wouldn't understand how this works, and is generally beyond his purview, which means they can make giant exposition dumps and have them makes sense, but they also get how online crime works.
The real issue that Seok-do and company are tracking, besides the murder and imprisonment of Korean workers abraod, is money laundering done through offshore gambling websites and would you look at that a cryptocurrency launch done by a reputable tech bro.
I really like this bit, not just because it addresses the biggest issue with cryptocurrency (this is how people hide criminal earnings), but also because it means we've get two different kinds of criminal worlds colliding. On the one hand we have the tech bro criminal who worries more about his outfits and seems to think playing gangster is fun. And on the other hand we have the guy that may as well say his favorite hobby is murder, who's looking to take over the entire enterprise for himself. So the violent segments where our main criminal anticipates or upends an eventual double cross is a touch cathartic (since tech bro goons so rarely get theirs).
I really like this bit, not just because it addresses the biggest issue with cryptocurrency (this is how people hide criminal earnings), but also because it means we've get two different kinds of criminal worlds colliding. On the one hand we have the tech bro criminal who worries more about his outfits and seems to think playing gangster is fun. And on the other hand we have the guy that may as well say his favorite hobby is murder, who's looking to take over the entire enterprise for himself. So the violent segments where our main criminal anticipates or upends an eventual double cross is a touch cathartic (since tech bro goons so rarely get theirs).
That's a nice novel spin that means the movie can shift from criminal operations abroad to domestic on a dime and justify an expanded team or unexpected team-ups with criminals. But what about Seok-do.
The "Punishment" Part
Seok-do's main appeal is that he seems exasperated or bored by his job. He never seems to be trying too hard when he fights a gaggle of dudes and approaches everything from a very workman-like perspective. I punch this dude because he has information about the next dude so I'll go punch him until I get to the final guy who I will punch harder.
This time around he's got skin in the game. As I mentioned in the plot summary, Seok-do makes a promise to the first victim's mother that he will bring the killer to justice. What I left out is that the mother completes suicide shortly thereafter. Which means now the guy who "never cares" cares an awful lot.
Which means we get to Seok-do do things he hasn't done before like try to work a bit more at office politics and let his emotions show. Hell he begs a superior at one point to get the resources to take this guy down.
It also means that he fights...angry. In a way he really hasn't in this franchise before. He even gives a Superman from Justice League "I'm always holding back" kind of speech for good measure. It's a nice wrinkle that gives the general setup just enough new energy. Because...
The Punching is Real Good This Time Around
The fights in The Roundup have always been solid thanks to a nice blend of chaotic bladed weapon bouts with the baddies and Seok-do punching people's lights out. A nice little back and forth to show off each fighter's capabilities before they go toe to toe.
Punishment's novel expansions on the last movie's ideas are to put the lion's share of the action in tight quarters or to make a lot of the fights time sensitive or two on ones. It means the Seok-do has to use a lot more agility and the environment to block/parry a lot of the blows or use it his advantage...often by throwing a dude straight through it.
The time sensitive elements are really strong as well since Seok-do might be sparring with an ok fighter while his buddy is about to get cut to ribbons by the main baddie, not that he knows that.
I also really like the camera work in these fights. With it being close-quarters, it would be very easy to get lost in the melee. Instead the camera drifts in and out depending on the moves of the fighters. If Seok-do takes a cut, we see that cut close up, before we zoom out to see the impact of his reaction swing that sends a guy flying. It's action/reaction camerawork that lets the audience track every blow.
The Verdict: Another Gem
With just enough variation on its winning formula and a committed as ever Ma Dong-seok, The Roundup: Punishment is everything I wanted from the franchise's fourth film. 8/10
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