The Roundup: No Way Out

Audience Reviews

View All (29) audience reviews

Sven C The beast cop never disappoints! This movie had more humor and all the punching that made the first two great. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/14/23 Full Review Norm V. Action packed and thrilling from start to end and a bit funny! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/13/23 Full Review sungsoo Don Lee is best action star.thums up Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/13/23 Full Review Marco Polo Great Movie as the previous two films Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/05/23 Full Review Matthew D Ma Dong-seok is once again delightful as the tough detective with massive arms. Director Lee Sang-yong’s South Korean crime action thriller The Roundup: No Way Out (2023) is supremely awesome. Sang-yong’s direction features gritty stabbings, sword fights, car hits, and punch out fisticuffs. He does not beat around the bush and made No Way Out the tightest film in The Roundup franchise at a brisk 105 minutes. I found the action very satisfying as sound designers Kim Gi-nam and Park Yong-ki added heavy thuds for each of Ma Dong-seok’s huge punches. They make every hit sound like criminals are getting slammed by a battering ram. Writers Kim Min-sung, Lee Sang-yong, Don Lee, and Cha Woo-jin came up with a killer story, funny one liners, vicious brawls, and charming supporting characters once again. I was surprised that this was also a true story based on a 2017 drug smuggling case where meth was being sold in South Korea. It apparently took South Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese police in a joint effort to stop this in reality. The movie comes up with a new drug called Hiper and has corrupt Korean cops selling these drugs in South Korea to the Chinese Triad after having stolen them from Japanese Yakuza. It’s pretty wild and complex, but I had fun watching Ma Dong-seok interrogate people with police brutality and punch through bad guys like they weigh nothing. Ma Dong-seok is relentlessly persistent as the no nonsense Detective Lieutenant Ma Seok-do, now a part of the Metropolitan Investigation. He is so effortlessly funny with a dry with and line delivery as men insult him before he throws them through a wall. Lee Joon-hyuk is crazy entertaining as the furious corrupt Korean Captain Joo Sung-cheol, who is trying to double cross the Triads and Yakuza. Munetaka Aoki is excellent as the stern and skilled swordsman Ricky, hired by Jun Kunimura’s vengeful gang leader Ichijo-gumi. Aoki’s fast katana wielding swordplay is awesome to witness. Lee Beom-soo is funny as Seoul’s Metropolitan Investigation Police Captain Jang Tae-soo, especially as he scolds Ma Dong-seok. Kim Min-jae is fun as Seok-do’s subordinate cop Kim Man-jae. Ko Kyu-pil is hilarious as the fat informant Cherry of the White Shark Gang member, who is now a Used Car Dealer. Bae Noo-ri is so gorgeous, funny, and charming as Cyber Club’s front desk girl Mimi. Park Ji-hwan gets a hysterical cameo as Jang Yi-soo in the end credits, now with even longer hair! Editor Kim Sun-min’s slick cutting is so sharp for the hard hitting punches as well as the transition between the mob activities and police investigation. Cinematographer Lee Hyun’s stunning wide shots of Seoul look wonderful. I liked that the fights were shot in wide and medium shots to let the audience see everything too. The shadowy lighting by Lee Seung-ho looks particularly good this time too. Composer Mok Yeong-jin’s exciting score emphasizes the danger and ominous drug deals. Costume designer Nam Ji-soo’s icy white and blue jacket looks cool on Ma Dong-seok. Overall, The Roundup: No Way Out is ferocious and exciting in its heavy handed punches and hilarious for its offbeat humor. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/25 Full Review g j These are starting to feel pretty samey. While this isn't objectively worse than the previous installment, it suffers from losing several key members of Ma's recurring support cast. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/27/24 Full Review Read all reviews

The Roundup: No Way Out

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Most Popular at Home Now