Rating: NR | Runtime: 105 minutes
Release Date: May 31st, 2023 (South Korea) / June 2nd, 2023 (USA)
Studio: ABO Entertainment / Capelight Pictures
Director(s): Lee Sang-yong
Writer(s): Kim Min-Sung

Is it wrong to kill?

While The Roundup advanced its in-film setting the same four years it took to follow its predecessor The Outlaws, The Roundup: No Way Out fast forwards seven despite bowing in theaters just one real year later (another sequel coming in 2024, subtitled Punishment, will be set three more after that). The time shift feels arbitrary on the surface since this burgeoning franchise is hardly period-specific, but I kind of like the idea of “beast cop” Ma Seok-Do (Don Lee) having the extra time to cement his reputation as a badass wherever he goes.

Currently a member of the Metro Investigation Unit, we’re re-introduced to the character on his way to the office. Stuck in a traffic jam caused by a couple punks beating on unsuspecting civilians, Ma barely breaks a sweat “defending” himself so that his day can begin. That his foes end up being highly sought targets is simply icing on the cake that delivers unintentional praise Ma accepts with a smile.

Written by Kim Min-sung and directed by Lee Sang-yong (returning after helming last year’s Vietnam-set actioner), No Way Out deals with the fallout of a new drug called Hiper that’s being smuggled into South Korea by the Yakuza. Ma takes the case once a suspected suicide is revealed to be murder, leading him into a series of nightclubs that he has no qualms about remodeling courtesy of his fists.

Add a dead police captain, a two-faced Korean middleman (Lee Jun-hyuk’s Joo Sung-chul), and the Yakuza hitman sent to clean up an escalating international mess (Aoki Munetaka’s Ricky) and you do have to wonder if things might finally be too much for the series’ one-man wrecking crew when his latest captain is put out of commission. Give Ma the kind of leeway that comes with zero oversight, however, and you know he’ll never admit it—even if he gets knocked unconscious.

As consistently entertaining and engrossing as the previous chapter, it’s easy to see why the filmmakers are making a go at producing these sequels so quickly. Strike while the iron is hot. A bit of subterfuge (the investigation soon diverts to see their original suspect is just a pawn in a more elaborate scheme) keeps Ma on his toes while things move from chasing people to drugs and back again after the Yakuza’s might gets those involved on-the-ground to realize the cops are the least of their worries.

It’s not as bloody as The Roundup with only one real sword fight that chooses to keep most of the contact blocked while most of the action showcases Ma’s boxing skills and one-punch knockouts instead. It’s a shift that augments the humor inherent to the set-up, allowing us to bask in the hubris of those thinking they stand a chance against an unfazed Ma firmly dialed into beast-mode.

The press notes aren’t lying when describing Ma’s sidekick Kim Min-jae as feeling like he’s always been in the series because I had to check twice upon discovering he wasn’t. Their rapport is just so authentic with Kim trying to save criminals from the beatdowns Ma is about to give them, knowing there’s no point trying to hold his partner back. And the inclusion of an informant (Ko Kyu-pil’s Cherry) and patsy (Jeon Suk Ho’s Kim Yang-ho) really increases the comedy as whipping boys for Ma to use and abuse en route to advancing the case.

Because he’s always operating outside the law—picking fights or blaming others so his presence and searches fall under labels of self-defense or probable cause. Hit anyone besides the big bads once and they’ll do anything not to get hit again. Ma only has to make them flinch to clean up the streets and, as he intentionally misspeaks, to “punish” and serve.

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Don Lee in THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT; courtesy of Capelight Pictures.