The Roundup

Two police officers tracking a killer who has been extorting and ransoming Koreans in Vietnam try to take him without any formal authority. There is no legal way to bring him home. The film keeps the shape of the first: fistfights in tight spaces, short scenes, excessive force played as comedy. The antagonist here is drawn colder, and that is where the tension comes from. Lee Sang-yong directed the second film in the series. Ma Dong-seok leads again. It did large business in Korea and the series continued. A real warning: the film treats police brutality as a joke and never questions it, and knife wounds are shown in detail. Not having seen the first film is no obstacle; this one stands alone.