Gangster the cop the devil

A lthough its final act shreds credulity, and the structure is a bit wonky, this pulpy crime thriller from Korea is still a real kick in the head. Like so many of the genre that hail from Seoul and its suburbs, this one punches well above its weight with an inventive reworking of well-worn plot tropes and slick production values. Supposedly, this was inspired by real events from a decade ago, but, while the 2005 setting is mentioned, it’s barely relevant. Writer-director Lee Won-Tae posits an unlikely alliance between rule-averse but goal-oriented cop Jung (Kim Mu-yeol) and seasoned crime-world kingpin Jang (densely made but light on his feet Ma Dong-seok, from Armed with what looks like a fearsome sushi knife and the haircut and cheekbones of a K-pop star, seemingly motiveless madman K has been killing motorists after minor fender-bending incidents for some time, but Jung’s superiors scoff at the idea of an American-style serial killer in Korea. But when K attacks Jang one night and encounters a foe who typically pulls out people’s teeth with his bare hands for fun, he not only fails to kill his victim but creates another adversary set on revenge. Jung and Jang strike a deal to help each other to hunt down their common enemy, a cute premise that Lee manages to sell with enough sizzle and style to keep it from tugging at the logic threads too hard. There’s a snazzy car chase through the city that smashes up assorted street carts and trash cans, and lots of yeasty, enthusia...

Related Story Dwayne Johnson Set To Reprise Hobbs Role In New Untitled 'Fast & Furious' Film From Universal Name: The Roundup: No Way Out Country: South Korea Producers: Big Punch Pictures, BA Entertainment, Hong Film International sales: K-Movie Entertainment For fans of: The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, Train to Busan With an incredible $62 million amassed at the Korean box office, and 8 million tickets sold since its release on May 31, The Roundup: No Way Outis a bonafide smash that’s already the No. 1 film of 2023 in the market, 39% ahead of the next title on the list, 343% more than the next local movie and outpacing Hollywood films.Whether it can overtake last year’s The Roundup($103 million/12.7 million admissions) remains to be seen, though speculation feels it could have a chance.Another sequel, The Roundup: Punishment, is due in 2024 and scripts are being worked on for the fifth and sixth films. A further two are committed to be produced while there are also thoughts of spin-offs, TV series, and, potentially, a Hollywood remake. Directed by Lee Sang-yong ,The Roundup: No Way Outwas released via Capelight Pictures on 41 screens in North America on June 2, grossing just under $500,000. It is carrying a 100% fresh score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and 90% from audiences (to be fair, this is from a small sampling). Still, it’s got plenty of rollout ahead, having pre-sold to 158 countries, according to distributor ABO Entertainment. There have been a handful of o...

In a strange way, watching a mediocre Korean thriller is almost as exhilarating as watching any of the legitimately great ones the country’s film industry continues to churn out —it’s wild to see how standards have gotten high enough that even a rambunctious serial killer saga with an ingenious premise and a swaggering Ma Dong-seok performance can still feel like something of a disappointment. Such is the case with Lee Won-tae’s “The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil,” a giddy little bruiser that might feel like more of a refreshing kick to the chest if not for how much tamer it is than “The Good, the Bad, the Weird,” or how poor the plotting is when compared to a recent crime saga like 2013’s riveting “New World” (to name just two of the many superior movies that also happen to boast Ma’s barrel-chested charm). So while it’s tempting to go easy on this frequently electric film, and forgive it for not living up to its full potential, the most satisfying thing about Lee’s spotty underworld adventure is the sense that we’ve been conditioned to expect better. If would help if the first 20 minutes of “The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil” didn’t make you brace for a modern classic. Set in the summer of 2005, and (sort of) based on some actual murders that took place around that time, Lee’s script reassembles the disembodied scraps of this morbid history into a conceit that cleverly blurs the thin blue line between cops and criminals. On one side of things we have Jung Tae-suk (Kim Moo-...