The Roundup: Punishment (2024)

Can't hold the candle in front of other Parts

The Roundup series is pretty interesting. New Story in each part with next characters and villains. But what I don't like is the decreasing reputation of villain.
Part 1 villain was tactical and adamant, Part 2 villain was the most scary psychopath, while Part 3 got the smartest villain. But in this Part, Villain lacked any presence at all. He kept the straight baby face, which is not very suitable for Antagonists. The Hero, Do Seok, is consistent but it's the villains who add value in the movie. The more cunning they are, the more fun it is to watch. Part 4 villain was just a fluke. He was neither a psycho nor intelligent. The only redeeming thing about him is fearlessness. That's his x factor, which is if you think about, is common in every villain. They don't fear hence they break laws.

Second was the choreography. The fight part was lackluster. Even the last fight looks pale in comparison to what Jang Chen did at the airport. So that was another let down. It was an okayish movie with not much of chase. There was chase but very mediocre compared to Part-1 & 2.

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Improved screenplay over previous installment

The major box office success of The Roundup series has brought us here to the fourth installment of the franchise, Punishment. Similar structure to the previous one, it had lesser action scenes and more towards story focus, but somehow this one is twice as much better than the lukewarm effort in No Way Out. All thanks to its improved screenplay and smoother flow of plot, it is much more cohesive than before, and the digital gambling case is interesting enough to provide a great hook for audiences. The cast is also much more favorable here, we have the return of Park Ji Hwan and his performance is simply too magnificent, till a point he almost carried the whole second half of the movie. Then we have new villains, Hyun Bong Sik is surprisingly underrated and his presence is massive even though he's just the villain sidekick, and finally needless to say, Kim Moo Yeol as the main villain is the ultimate right choice, he's freaking intimidating and quick at stunts too. Meanwhile the choice of ending is a little too weak because they've made the villain look thoughtless given how he ended up at the final fight location, but nonetheless they've regained their reputation this time around as the most prominent movie franchise in Korean action cinema.

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