The fourth go-round for this ultra-formulaic police thriller series starring Ma Dong-seok is as predictable as the last two sequels, an m.o. justified by its massive box office returns in South Korea. Once again, burly battering ram police detective Ma Dong-seok (Ma) is drawn into the murder of a Korean national overseas, thus securing tourist industry participation in the production. We’ve so far had the opportunity to visit Singapore and Vietnam, so it’s only a hop, skip, and a jump to another popular Korean destination, the Philippines, where a rich tech bro (Lee Dong-hwi) has set up an online casino operation that’s managed by a bloodthirsty, ambitious ex-mercenary, Baek Chang-mi (Kim Mu-yeol), who lures programmers from Korea to the Philippines with lucrative job offers and then imprisons them in front of screens to create software that hooks offshore rubes. When one of these programmers tries to escape, Baek brutally kills him and the body, which has been reported missing back in Seoul, comes to the attention of Ma, who promises the victim’s mother—before she commits suicide from grief—that he will “punish” the person responsible, thus setting up the premise of all the Roundup films: Ma stretching the already flaccid limits of the law to bring a sadistic criminal to justice.

The only alteration to this formula is that Baek isn’t sadistic. He simply kills anyone who is inconvenient or standing in the way of his own material betterment, though in a manner that would be considered extreme by any normal sensibility. The more consistent series trait is the humor, which in this film is mainly a function of Ma’s ignorance of the IT that is central to the criminal enterprise. He can’t quite get his head around the idea of virtual anything and though he tries to cover up his lack of tech savvy with the usual bluster (“Is this a digital fist?”), it doesn’t matter in the end, because he wins all the fights, which, just like sex scenes in the proverbial porno, take place every five minutes or so in order to fulfill the film’s contract with the series’ fans. The other through-theme is how cavalierly Ma and his fellow cops intimidate witnesses and suspects with the threat of beat-downs and even death in order to get the information they need. Does South Korean law enforcement really appreciate their being portrayed in this way, even when it’s a joke? 

Given the money that Ma and his producers have made off the series, I doubt if they’re going to stop, though I have yet to read about a fifth installment. If they do decide to continue they should take a bit of time off first and try to freshen the formula, though the thinking is probably why fix something that isn’t broken, at least in terms of ticket sales? Ma the star is still a great comic actor and while there are about five fights too many in Punishment, the choreography can’t be beat, which is why I hear Ma makes a tidy side business in the U.S. training other action stars on how to use their fists. Nice work if you can get it.

In Korean. Opens Sept. 27 in Tokyo at Marunouchi Toei (03-3535-4741), Shinjuku Piccadilly (050-6861-3011).

The Roundup: Punishment home page in Japanese

photo (c) 2024 ABO Entertainment Co. Ltd. & Bigpunch Pictures & Hong Film & B.A. Entertainment Corporation