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Review | The Roundup movie review: Ma Dong-seok, Son Suk-ku face off in riotously entertaining sequel to 2017 action thriller The Outlaws
- Ma Dong-seok is back as the powerhouse detective chasing down a ferocious killer, played by Son Suk-ku
- The humour that runs through the story and the captivating performances elevate this sequel above the normal Korean action films
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4/5 stars
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“The beast cop is back” screams the advertising for Lee Sang-yong’s The Roundup, the red-blooded, ultra-violent and riotously entertaining follow-up to 2017’s The Outlaws. Ma Dong-seok, aka Don Lee, reprises his role as the aforementioned heavyweight law enforcer, who travels to Vietnam to extradite a petty criminal, only to pick up the trail of Son Suk-ku’s ferocious killer.
The Roundup scored the biggest opening day since before the pandemic in South Korea earlier this month, surpassing the 3-million-viewer mark faster than any domestic film since 2019’s Parasite.
In The Outlaws, Detective Ma Seok-do (Ma) and his men squared off against a clan of ruthless Chinese gangsters looking to seize control of Seoul’s Garibong district. This time out, it is Ma who finds himself on foreign soil, when he accompanies his captain, Jeon Il-man (Choi Gwi-hwa), to Ho Chi Minh City for what should be a simple extradition.
On arrival, they discover that their terrified charge is fleeing from bloodthirsty criminal Kang (Son, currently on TV in the popular series My Liberation Notes), who is connected to the recent kidnapping of a wealthy Korean businessman.
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