ReviewBerlin 2024 movie review – The Roundup: Punishment, with Korean hard man Ma Dong-seok as a po-faced punching machine, is like a Hong Kong action movie on steroids

This latest instalment in the Roundup series ups the ante with more intense action as Ma Dong-seok punches his way through a gang of internet gambling scammers

The simple story is bolstered by brilliant sound effects, Ma’s endearing tech illiteracy, and Park Ji-hwan’s performance as his sidekick

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Ma Dong-seok as Detective Ma in a still from The Roundup: Punishment (category TBC), directed by Heo Myeong-haeng and co-starring Kim Moo-yeol and Park Ji-hwan. Photo: ABO Entertainment / Bigpunch Pictures / Hong Film / B.A. Entertainment

Published: 10:30pm, 23 Feb 2024Updated: 11:55am, 27 Feb 2024

3/5 stars

Those who revel in the sound of knuckles crashing into faces, rejoice: South Korean master puncher Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) has returned with The Roundup: Punishment, in which his no-nonsense, po-faced police officer again gets to thrash an endless stream of thugs in backstreet alleys, cramped toilets and the business-class cabin of an aeroplane.

Now into the fourth instalment of the series and with stunt coordinator Heo Myeong-haeng (Badland Hunters) taking the helm, the story has become more lightweight as the action has become more intense, with Ma’s now legendary Detective Ma and his underlings assigned to bust a gang running an internet gambling scam.

From the film’s very first set piece, in which the actor gets to show off his near-superhuman strength by removing a massive metal gate from its hinges with his bare hands, The Roundup: Punishment never really lets up.