Crime action films today can often, despite what the genre might suggest, leave the viewer inexplicably searching for more. Overused actors, villains with vague intensions, and overplayed tropes often result in films with predictable twists and forgettable plots. Ma Dong-seok (TRAIN TO BUSAN, ETERNALS, ASHFALL) returns for another knockout performance and offers a refreshing reprieve from the mundane action crime film in THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT.
Directed by Lee Sang-yong and written by Kim Min-sung, the third installment of THE ROUNDUP series starts exactly like the first two – Detective Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok) happens upon a concerned crowd gathered around a violent fight, with police and security guards hopelessly trying to control the mounting violence. He casually strolls onto the scene and subdues the criminals with comedic ease, often blurring the line between cop and criminal while dressed in his casual track suit. Ma and his team are called in to investigate a murder connected to the novel drug “Hiper” being trafficked into Incheon by yakuza members from Japan and aided by a corrupt network of crime bosses in South Korea.
Working secretively with a crime organization called the White Shark Clan, corrupt captain of the Seoul Guryong Narcotics Division Joo Sung-chul (Lee Jun-hyuk) works to secure a $30 million dollar drug deal with yakuza members while avoiding the scrutinous eye of detective Ma Seok-do. After strongarming the information out of his informants, Ma Seok-do’s team is lead to yakuza member and drug distributor Hiroshi (Kang Yoon), who introduces the team and the viewer to Hiper in all its glory: two astronomically high people who deliver one of the most uninhibited and unforgettable fight scenes in recent history. Along with the drugs, the team recovers another important piece of evidence: the police-issued gun of the previously missing and now assumed murdered captain of the Bukbu Narcotics Division, who had taken it upon himself to investigate the case.
The fight scenes in THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT are titular – they often occur in tight spaces that offer no elbow room and certainly no escape. One such scene involves Ricky (Munetaka Aoki) in a swordfight shot in a house with paper walls. Blood becomes the paint and the house the canvas. The artist weaves through his victims with ease, creating doors as he sees fit where walls once stood. The fighting styles are inventive and fresh, keeping the viewer engaged until each character meets their gruesome end. Action films nowadays can feel like an unimaginative barrage of fists with no cadence, but THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT offers a well-choreographed dance between the protagonist and the villain.
Lee Jun-hyuk is nearly unrecognizable from previous roles fans are used to him in – he had to bulk up significantly to look the part of the intimidating antagonist Joo Sung-chul. Despite not normally playing the bad guy, Lee Jun-hyuk is a natural villain. His physical wildness increases throughout the film, mirroring his mounting desperation; he often enters a scene pristine and poised, only to later leave bloodied and disheveled. The low angle shots of Joo Sung-chul are purposeful; his height is emphasized by camera shots from below, illustrating both how he views himself and the reality of his status; he uses his financial connections and his position as a police captain to keep himself at the top by whatever means necessary.
In one shot he is glowering underneath a mural of The Great Wave by Katsushika Hokusai painted on the ceiling. The artwork could be hung on the wall as a blatant harbinger of the consequences of his greed but instead is unseen by him as it threatens to crash down on him from above, taking the place of his nonexistent conscience. He takes up the empty space left by the wave, symbolizing his unending willingness to create tension where there once was none for his own personal gain. The ripples he creates inevitably become uncontrollable waves, threatening to swallow him whole. His unchecked power does not come without a price, nor without an ominous stillness that comes before the tsunami. His power can only be matched by that of our protagonist, Ma Seok-do.
Ma Dong-seok is often cast in a role where his fists are at the forefront, but it never seems to get old. Whether he is fighting criminals, zombies, or genetically engineered supervillains, he weaves in his natural charm and makes the audience laugh, cry, and then cringe as his fists punch through literal steel. Also known by his English name Don Lee, Ma Dong-seok is no stranger to fighting. Former president and current director of the Korean Armwrestling Federation and trainer to UFC fighters Mark Coleman and the late Kevin Randleman, Ma Dong-seok has been cementing his name in the heavy hitter industry for decades in both Korea and the United States. The usage of actors in THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT who have experience in fighting on and off the screen has resulted in smooth and believable fight scenes that only enhance an action film which already succeeds greatly due to a strong foundational plot.
Ma Seok-do never uses a weapon despite being attacked by several, often even preferring an open palm to his fists. His intimidating presence serves as a constant warning to the inevitable outcome should you choose to cross him. The enemy is lucky when he extends his evidence bag and offers them an opportunity to go peacefully. Even while dodging dual final bosses, swordsman Ricky and the formidable Maha (real-life MMA fighter and actor Hong Joon-young), Ma Seok-do ignores multiple knives and a giant pair of shears in a well-stocked industrial kitchen, instead opting for a fan-favorite from his TRAIN TO BUSAN days: a makeshift shield. The usage of shields with his characters is purposeful – despite his size, Ma Dong-seok only unleashes his unmatched power when provoked.
Ma Dong-seok seems to always play the part of the perfect protagonist – he portrays a mythological David in the body of a Goliath, fighting enemies of unfathomable size with ease. Regardless of his opponent, his presence alone is usually enough to resolve any dispute. A true balancing act on and off the screen, Ma Dong-seok looks just as at-home in the gym as he does in his matching Hello Kitty phone case and slippers on his Instagram page, @donlee. It is rare to find an actor that appeals to every facet of his audience. Following the success of TRAIN TO BUSAN and his Hollywood debut in ETERNALS, we can expect to be lucky enough to enjoy more of his films stateside. An actor like Ma Dong-seok is certainly not one to miss.
Catch THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT now on DVD and Blu-Ray and find THE ROUNDUP: PUNISHMENT in select theaters near you starting May 3, 2024, in the USA.
Tags: Action Cinema, Action Film, Action Movies, Ashfall, Crime, Don Lee, Eternals, Hong Joon-young, Kang Yoon, Kevin Randleman, Kim Min-sung, Korean, Korean Film, Lee Jun-hyuk, Lee Sang-yong, Ma Dong-Seok, Mark Coleman, Munetaka Aoki, The Roundup, The Roundup: No Way Out, Train To Busan
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