The Roundup: Punishment

Story: Detective Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok) investigates a case of online money laundering. When he finds out who is behind it, it turns out that the person was recently killed in the Philippines. It also turns out that the man was a programmer who developed an app for an online casino. The merciless gangster Baek Chang-gi (Kim Moo-yul) runs an online casino for VIPs in the Philippines and has kidnapped some programmers from Korea who have to work for him. He is also in contact with IT genius Chang Dong-cheol (Lee Dong-hwi), who wants to launch a crypto currency soon. Chang asks Baek to destroy a rival online casino and promises Baek a bigger slice of the cake in return. But since he doesn't keep his promise and instead keeps putting off the gangster, Baek decides to fly to South Korea himself. There, Detective Ma has just put together a team including experts from the Cybercrime Department. Through a lead they are able to track down a suspect and soon it becomes clear that they are dealing with a well-organized online gambling ring. Eventually, Chang asks the unscrupulous Baek to eliminate the suspect so that he wouldn't be able to talk any more. And that's how he crosses paths with Detective Ma for the first time.

Review: The fourth part in the "The Roundup" series once again avoids doing any experiments and relies strictly on Ma Dong-seok's physique and the fact that Ma can smash everything and everyone to pieces. Just as it was the case with "The Roundup: No Way Out" or the other predecessors, we get a mixture of dark and violent gangster flick and light-hearted comedy. However, this time, there is a little less humor than there was in the past, which unfortunately has a negative effect on the movie. Once again, the story uses a true case as a loose basis, and there are connections to Southeast Asia again, this time the Philippines, even though we only spent a short amount of time there. The action comes along with a choreography that is a bit more sophisticated, which is quiet pleasing, but the characters seem pretty shallow again. On the other hand, the buddy feeling within the unit is rather convincing. Nonetheless, it would have been nice if the movie had elaborated on the characters a little more, because without previous knowledge you won't be able to place anyone anywhere, and people will only seem like random faces flickering across the screen.

As is typical, the story once more begins by showing the villain's ruthlessness and brutality in great detail. This time, the task falls to Kim Mu-yeol ("Intruder"), and he does a pretty good job at it. Especially his action scenes are well done. Actually, his knife fight against a whole room full of gangsters is even one of the movie's highlights. Ma Dong-seok's scenes can't quite keep up with that. As already mentioned before, the rather elaborate choreography is able to score points, and some other scenes also manage to impress by using single-shots and dynamic camera work. The majority of the story revolves around the villains, though. Lee Dong-hwi ("Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman") is an IT genius who also runs a scam with a new crypto currency on the sidelines. None of this is really important, but the story seems a bit more complex with that. Still, due to this focus on the gangster story on the one side and the police investigation on the other, the movie sometimes seems a bit divided.

Occasionally, it seems quite lazy or poorly written how the investigators suddenly draw exactly the right kind of conclusions through only a few clues. Sometimes one piece of the puzzle fits a little too well with the other. Believability might not be something to expect from an action movie of this kind, but the director and screenwriter still could have put a little more effort into it. On the other hand, things can sometimes get quite violent, and the villain's lethal knife attacks also make it clear that there is actually something at stake here. Of course, only until it occurs to us that Detective Ma is actually invincible. He is like a steam hammer, who can also be surprisingly agile. However, he unexpectedly gets his fair share of injuries in the finale too. With each new movie in the series, he seems to bleed more, but you never really worry about him. You know what to expect from "The Roundup: Punishment" and that's exactly what you get. Real suspense as to how the story might end is not one of the things you should expect, though. Ma's motive for accepting the case in the first place is supposed to bring a certain level of emotionality into the story - but that doesn't work at all.

The comedic parts in the "Roundup" series are usually particularly well done, precisely because Ma Dong-seok is able to carry them in his very own way. Therefore, it's a real pity that this time, we only get a few moments in which the movie plays to this strength. One scene involves the inability of some Koreans to distinguish between "f" and "p", and in another scene, as expected, Ma's almost comical strength is used for a laugh. In terms of action, people once more fly through the air when they get hit by one of Ma's punches, but this time, the environment doesn't get destroyed so much in the process. On the other hand, Ma's movements look even more like boxing, and they are just a little nicer to watch. If you're looking for good, hard-hitting action, you'll definitely get your money's worth here. Unfortunately, you won't be able to warm up to the characters, though, because the movie somehow forgot to breathe more life into them. They don't get any additional "facets", if you can even call it that, than they got in the previous installments.

Nevertheless, the producers tried to put more effort into the story. It offers different plotlines, all of which are somehow connected to each other, but in the end, you also have to ask yourself whether this was really necessary. At least that way, the action flick is not too straightforward and there are no real lengths either. Therefore, "Punishment" once more represents a movie that could be right out of the 90s but also has a modern touch. Action cinema that simply wants to entertain, and even though it doesn't do everything right, it somehow seems honest. This appeals to the audience, even the fourth time around, and in terms of story and choreography, you can also see some improvement compared to its direct predecessor. Of course, this raises the question how much longer this pattern will continue to work, but if there was another sequel, it would be nice if they added a little more humor and the supporting characters got a little more to do too. Otherwise, the action might turn out a bit superficial. Nevertheless, this time around, action fans will once more get their money's worth.

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