"Crime City: Retribution” (The Roundup: Punishment) continues the trend of getting closer franchises to modern times. While the first part of 2017 takes place in 2004, “Crime City 2” – 2008, and “Crime City: Showdown in Busan” (2023) is set in 2015. This time the action takes place in 2018, which makes it 14 years since the events of the original (and in fact, 7 years since the release of Crime City, so if we wanted to do math, we could say that cinematic time moves at double speed). However, the passage of time does not apply to the characters in the franchise, as Ma Dong-seok, along the way, is transported to whatever year the story takes place in to strike a blow against a select group of nefarious villains. The only signs of the passage of time are limited to external factors such as the characters' use of smartphones, but otherwise it's business as usual.
It's the fourth installment that cements this fact more than any other, solidifying it as a franchise that will stick to the same template (if it's not broken, why fix it?) for each subsequent installment, without any changes. Fans of Ma Dong-seok's signature acting style and on-screen action will find little to complain about. At the same time, part of me would like to get to know his character a little more. Dong-seok is far from being a one-man actor (check out his performances in “Two” and “One by One” to see that), but after four films set over a 14-year period, developments have developed since we first met. his character was zero. Even Dirty Harry was given some backstory and a few off-duty scenes in each of the five films he appeared in!
This time, the main villain will be Kim Mu-yeol (Ballerina, Space Sweepers), reuniting with Dong-seok after their starring roles in the 2019 film “Gangster, cop and devil“. The action begins in the Philippines, where the murder of a Korean citizen on local soil leads to the protagonist and his team uncovering an illegal online casino operation. Recruiting young, tech-savvy IT specialists under the guise of a trading company, upon arrival in the Philippines, they are kidnapped and forced to operate the casino 24/7 in terrible conditions, under the threat of death for attempting to escape. Mu-yeol controls the entire operation (in a role similar to the one he played in the 2021 film “On the Edge”), ruthlessly destroying anyone who tries to run the same scam, and obeying his boss in Korea, played by Lee Dong-hwi (Extreme Job, Little Client), an oddball IT genius who uses his skills to create the appearance of a respected businessman.
For the first time since the original, the narrative is based on a true story, and unlike “Crime City 3“, who showed too much enthusiasm in trying to get Dong-seok to start hitting people, here the plot gives itself enough space to develop the story. Soon after meeting Dong-seok, the murdered man’s mother commits suicide, leaving a note asking her to find those responsible for her son’s death and punish them. Saddened by the senseless death, Dong-seok decides to take matters into his own hands by recruiting a couple of cybercrime experts to join the team. Among them Lee Joo-bin, known for her roles in the films “Mr. Sunshine” and “Love Battle,” she becomes the only woman on the team, playing a key role in the investigation and tracking of online casinos.
The digital aspect drives much of the humor of the fourth installment, as a dinosaur like Dong-seok tries to master some terms (after hearing that the software used to create the casino is open source, he asks cybercrime experts to find its location, so they can visit before closing). Return of series regular character Park Chi-hwan (who was absent from Part 3, except for a cameo in the post-credits) is encouraging. As in the previous installment, the protagonist's colleagues remain largely interchangeable, and his 2010s team lacks the distinct personalities of the 2000s team. Kim Min-jae, Lee Ji-hoonand Lee Beom-soo are doing the best they can with what they are given to work with, but the chemistry is not the same as the previous version of the team.
Of course, ultimately the franchise “Crime city” became focused on action, and therefore Myung-Heng, seemingly knowing what his strengths are, constantly participates in numerous fights. The action doesn't open up any new possibilities, and “wow!” the effect is no longer there (not because the quality has decreased, but rather that audiences have simply become accustomed to it), however, for those who want to simply relax and enjoy the dynamic scenes, the film still offers an interesting spectacle. Dong-seok seems to have made boxing his favorite style, similar to the one we saw in “Wasteland”, and although he is certainly good at it, the throws and kicks that were in “The Roundup“ certainly feel lost because of the variety they provided.
Mu-yeol's style is straight out of martial arts school “Reid“, with the knife used to pierce the throat and slash the wrists in a violent series of blows and cuts. While this may seem borrowed, it overall serves the purpose of creating a villain who won't just give up. Myung-hyun adds a couple of callbacks to the original through action scenes, including a bathroom fight and the final scene at the airport. The latter allows Dong-seok and Mu-yeol to square off in the confines of a first-class cabin on an airplane (starting with a 2-on-1 fight where a professional boxer Kim Ji-hoon plays Moo-yeol's assistant), which lives up to the promise of a large number of random casualties, while also offering a rare moment where the main character finds himself in a difficult situation during a fight. It also includes perhaps the funniest line of the entire episode, ending things on a positive note.
Overall, the fourth installment doesn't take the series to the next level, but it doesn't take it lower either, but rather doubles down on what the previous installment hinted at: the Crime City franchise aims to offer a dose of straightforward, hard-hitting action, eschewing the bombastic spectacle based on CGI that so many modern action films rely on, instead providing the simple pleasure of giving the bad guys a well-deserved kick in the butt. In this regard “The Roundup: Punishment” copes with its task perfectly.
Paul Bramhall Rating: 7/10
Posted by Paul Bramhall (CityOnFire)
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Tags: The Roundup, Kim Ji-hoon, Kim Min-jae, Kim Mu-yeol, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Dong-hwi, Ma Dong-seok, Ho Myung-hyun
Tags: The Roundup, Kim Ji-hoon, Kim Min-jae, Kim Mu-yeol, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Dong-hwi, Ma Dong-seok, Ho Myung-hyun
Yes.
The previous ones are the ones from Tiger Style Media?
Complete crap, not a movie. The previous two are much better.
Damn, that looks pretty good. I'll have to take note. Thanks.