The Beast Cop, Ma Seok-do, punched his way onto the screen and into our hearts with 2017's “The Outlaws”. Since then, as the feature's popularity and the star of its leading man Man Dong-seok raised, the singular production became a franchise and Ma Seok-do has ended up becoming an iconic character for the actor, who now returns to our screens for his fourth case in “The Roundup: Punishment”.
“The Roundup: Punishment” is released by Capelight Pictures
It's 2018 and while investigating the death of an app developer in Philippines in connection to a drugs case, detective Ma Seok-do's and his team uncover a huge illegal online gambling organisation. The man behind the organisation is closer to home, the rich genius IT CEO Chang Dong-chul, who plans on becoming even richer with the introduction of his new cryptocurrency. He needs, though, his partner, the ruthless knife-wielding killer Baek Chang-gi to keep a tight leash on things and maintain their monopoly on the gambling business. But when Chang-gi realizes that Dong-chul may well be looking to cut him off, he gets on a plane to Korea, which brings him into Ma Seok-do's territory, who has a promise to keep to the mother of a dead son.
After Kang Yoon-sung handed the reins to take the character further to Lee Sang-yong for “The Roundup” and “The Roundup: No Way Out”, the directorial duties are once again passed on to Heo Myeong-haeng, whose only other directorial credit may be this year's rather bland “Badland Hunters”, but who has been working in the industry as a martial arts coordinator for a number of years, including on all the previous Beast Cop releases. Shot simultaneously with “No Way Out”, “Punishment” feels very much a different, much better beast than its immediate predecessor. The case, for one, is based on a real-life roundup that took place in 2018, much like the one in “The Outlaws” and as such , feels a lot more relevant to this day and age. Stepping away from drugs and into the technological world also means more humor, which can be elicited from the technologically handicapped Ma Seok-do, resulting in some amusing moments. This is Ma Dong-seok's career-defining character and it is a moot point to talk about his effortless performance as Ma Seok-do time after time, with the actor slipping once again comfortably into the role, landing both heavy punches and timed punchlines in quick succession easily.
While the comedy does mostly land, “Punishment” excels because once again, the series has a formidable villain to pit against the physically unbeatable Ma Seok-do. By himself, Dong-chul, played with his usual flair by Lee Dong-hwi, would have been a terrible foil for our physically imposing lead, but the inclusion of the ruthless Chang-gi mixes things well. In a much welcome change, this is also the first time we see someone be a genuine physical challenge to Ma Seok-do, even if for a few brief seconds. This is largely facilitated by some brilliant action choreography and especially through the sequences involving Chang-gi and his right-hand man. It also helps that the casting of Kim Mu-yeol as Chang-gi is pitch-perfect, with the actor, who has of course previously shown a good chemistry with Ma Dong-seok in “The Gangster, the Cop, The Devil”, bringing an icy coolness about his demeanor that enhances the character. He also excels with the action choreography presented to him, so much so that when a key moment in the climactic fight sequence comes along where he proves to be a genuine physical threat to Ma Seok-do, it looks both believable and very exciting, making Chang-gi the best antagonist this series has seen after “The Outlaws”.
The proficiency in the action here comes as no surprise considering director Heo's martial arts background. The hand-to-hand combats are likely the best the series has seen thus far, with Ma's combo punches also feeling even more brutal than the usual one-punch KOs we know and love him for, with the sound design working collectively to make the audience feel the force behind those punches effectively. The sequences including Chang-gi and his crony clearly stand out though, with their extensive and impressive use of martial arts. If “The Roundup” had the impressive apartment fight sequence and the climactic one in the bus, this entry too is no different, with another fantastic clash involving Chang-gi within an apartment, shot with some very fluid camerawork and, like the rest of the feature, accompanied by an electric music score, and the confined quarters of the climactic action set-piece this time coming in the form of the first class cabin of an aircraft.
There is certainly something to be rightly said about the repetitiveness of this series, but that is not what the audience looks for in these works. “The Roundup: Punishment” is welcomely bigger, badder, better, harder and heavier than its immediate predecessor and easily one of the best entries in the series, a fact acknowledged by the solid business it is doing, making it the most successful fourth entry in a domestic Korean film franchise ever, having done 6 million viewers in merely 10 days since its release. The Beast Cop shows no sign of stopping any time soon and with a reported 8-film saga planned, fans will be glad to see that there is still bursting life in this series yet.
