The Roundup: No Way Out

This is a super fun, high action police thriller sequel to the highly successful "Roundup" series. Ma Dong-Seok, or Don Lee, leads a cast of Lorean Police Detectives willing to use unconventional methodologies to solve their cases. The story is about a corrupt Korean police element working with the Japanese Yakuza on an international drug ring to distribute a new drug. There are elements of cross and double cross and it is very watchable. It is funny in a sarcastic way, but at its core, a police action film, like lethal Weapon. I much prefer the Korean with English subtitles to the Dubbed. Looking forward to next installment.

Don Lee is back and it's back to the big time. As before, the teddy bear tornado has the endearing charisma of a Bud Spencer and the methods of a Dirty Harry, two fists instead of a Magnum. So everything is the same, which in this case is a quality feature rather than a shortcoming. Tough violence meets humorous interludes, both in the right proportions and underpinned by almost constant (thrashing) action. This time, fortunately, the background rock music has been toned down considerably. Oh yes, there is also a story, a solid means to an end. As always, the salt in the soup is the use of finely scattered political incorrectness. Thank you Roundup Saga, you rarely if ever see anything like this anymore. Another aspect worth mentioning is the consistently fantastic cast throughout the trilogy. Not only Ma Dong-seok, but also his police force are simply endearing. The villains are always charismatic, and this time the enemies of South Korean law and order come from the Chinese triads, the Japanese yakuza and their own corrupt ranks of officials. It can go on like this, there is still a lot of energy in this series.

The third film in the Crime City series, Don Lee gets to throw his knockout punches non-stop while the all predictable story takes a backseat. When Detective Ma Seok-do and his team get a murder case to solve which leads them to an illegal drug Hiper. They chase the lead to the supplier of the drug and even confiscate the drugs. This opens up the mystery involving corrupt cops and a rival Yakuza gang trying to get their hands on the confiscated drugs. How Seok-do punches his way out through the baddies forms the story.

The story is a simple one and with the reveal of the villain early on, there is barely any suspense left. The team cop however still succeed to entertain with their humor though it's getting lesser with each film. As the team, conveniently choses to arrive late to the scene, it gives Don Lee enough time to shine. With non-stop action, the story does move in a brisk pace. Considering the baddies are no match to the main lead, the fights are obviously one sided throughout. It takes a step down compared to the previous film and I hope the fourth film offers better balance.

I still feel Don Lee is an underrated action star in the west, and I hope Hollywood takes notice of him and starts making some English action films with him, and I don't mean underutilizing his action and comedy talents like they did in Eternals. It would be nice to see Lee in a crime-action film without having to read subtitles and miss most of the fun trying to read.

And as per usual, he did not disappoint in this film. The action and comedy was great, but I found both elements lacking in this film compared to The Outlaws that I had rated a 9/10, and the previous The Roundup I had rated a perfect 10/10. The story in this one has a few good twists, but was still generic and cliched compared to the first two films. There wasn't as much humor in this film as there was in the two previous ones either. Still, lots of action and a fun and entertaining watch, and a well deserved 8/10 for this one from me.

Ma Dong-Seok, played as usual by Don Lee is back for a third time in - what I think will be the final outing for the character - in this third film of the trilogy of South Korean films. Don Lee is an actor I quite enjoy watching in his film releases but this outing was not worth the effort; it was just pushed out to cash in on the success of the previous two films, The Outlaw and The Roundup.

Some of the acting by 2 or 3 of the cast is not too bad but in general its just bunch of dim witted cops and even more dim witted gangsters; of both Korean thugs and Japanese Yakuza thugs. If you enjoy this type of Don Lee film, of mindless violence and viciousness, then you will be pleased with what you see. But if your looking for a stronger dramatically and well acted story etc, you will not find it within the scenes of this poor excuse.