‘The Roundup: Punishment’ Review – Action That Packs An Arsenal Of Punches

Chris Sawin   |  

May 8, 2024

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The Roundup: Punishment is the fourth film in The Roundup (also known as Crime City) franchise. The original film, The Roundup, is an intense action film that is borderline horror at times with how brutal it is.

The Roundup: No Way Out, the second film in the series, swaps the action for investigative footwork and is a little slower in comparison yet worth the watch. Reviews for both films can be found here and here, respectively.

In the Philippines, an illegal online casino is a front for a drug-selling app that is mostly utilized in Korea. Baek Chang-gi (Kim Mu-yeol), a former mercenary, is seizing control of the entire casino ring in Korea. His partner, an IT genius named Chang Dong-cheol (Lee Dong-hwi), is using the drug trafficking app to jumpstart a cyber coin that will make money laundering obsolete.

Baek Chang-gi is slaughtering people to get a bigger share of the cyber coin despite Chang Dong-cheol dragging his feet on giving it to him, so their professional relationship is turning deadly. Meanwhile, Detective Ma Dong-seok (Don Lee), a punch-first-ask-questions-later lieutenant, takes the case even though he doesn’t know the first thing about technology. 

Punishment goes back to trying to have more action like the original film and even revolves around a villain who likes to use knives again. Directed by Heo Myung-haeng (Badland Hunters), the South Korean action crime film juggles silly comedy and slice-and-dice action. The film is bloody without being massively gory. 

Kim Mu-yeol plays Baek Chang-gi as a calm and collected character, even though his actions are unpredictable. He’s a psychopath with no emotion or remorse, but he’s highly stabby — murdering everyone that gets in the way of what he thinks is his share, which is all of it.

The comedy in the film comes from two key factors: Detective Ma’s technology troubles and Jang Yi-soo (Park Ji-hwan). As Ma, Don Lee has this confidence in his ignorance of technology. He doesn’t understand data syncing with new phones and incorrectly describes what crowd-sourcing is. 

Jang Yi-soo owns an arcade, flashy cars, Gucci bags, bright clothes, and a flamboyant demeanor. His alliance with Detective Ma is a strange one since Jang Yi-soo is still a criminal who secretly wants to be a cop. The two are constantly bickering, and the lie Ma tells Yi-soo to get his full cooperation is humorously mean. Don Lee also has this stone-faced humor in the film, where you never know when he’s joking until he finally decides to crack a smile.

The story is a bit strange since Detective Ma and his team are primarily beat cops, but Ma feels obligated to tackle a digital crime for the first time because he makes a promise to one of the victims. Before the film can move on, The Punishment devotes much time to Ma and his team gaining vague knowledge of digital crime.

The rest of the time, The Roundup: Punishment jumps back and forth between the Philippines and Korea. There’s an understanding of why, but it doesn’t make it any less tiresome. 

Most of the action is a multi-person mayhem involving knives, guns, and fists colliding in spectacularly messy ways. There’s some action choreography, but there’s a kind of sloppiness to it in order for it to feel genuinely chaotic. 

The last fight sequence is also the best in the film, taking place in the first-class cabin of an airplane and making full use of the confined quarters during an all-out three-person brawl.

The Roundup films have yet to live up to the original, but Punishment is a fun installment. Don Lee has set out to make The Roundup South Korea’s answer to The Fast and the Furious franchise. Punishment has enough ridiculous humor to make it feel like a different entry in the series. 

Detective Ma doesn’t use weapons. He uses his fists and is this bare-knuckled juggernaut of law enforcement. With its swift action, decent story, and entertaining characters, The Roundup: Punishment continues to solidify the best string of action films most people don’t even know about.

NEXT: ‘The Fall Guy’ Review – Action-Heavy, Stunt-Loving Absurdity