By Pierce Conran
While The Roundup: No Way Out doesn't quite match the raw force of previous instalments Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) packs a mighty punch once again as his burly big screen alter ego Ma Seok-do in the third of a promised eight ‘Crime City’ films (with some spin-offs touted to boot).
The jokes are there (in an even more abundant supply) and the punches are as thunderous as ever, but what this third film lacks is a compelling villain and the same calibre of colourful side characters. Lee Joon-hyuk is all cold stares and whispery baritones, and guest Japanese star Munetaka Aoki grows and slices his way through the screen, but both lack the charisma of Yoon Kye-sang or Son Sukku.
By Pierce Conran
Almost 20 years ago I walked into a theatre in Dublin, taking a chance on a strange-looking movie that no one had heard of. I was rewarded with one of the best cinema experiences of my life. I grinned from ear to ear from start to finish, as I laughed, and cried, and marvelled at the constant madcap ingenuity rocketing from the screen into my bewildered eyeballs. That film was Save the Green Planet.
I’ve been fruitlessly searching for that feeling ever since, until now.
