The Outlaws

Uncompromising bloodshed of street gangs versus a peculiar police unit, which could / should also qualify as a kind of street gang. A straightforward striking and goal-oriented plot, clearly defined characters, a few light moments in the right places and such a frequent clear contact action, which means that the stuntmen must have more roles in it than the actors and ... And that's actually it. No overlaps, no art. But there is no need for stronger evidence that if you know what you are doing, even "a few" perfectly mastered genre elements are enough for perfect fun. (17/03/2018)

The Koreans can make decent action films compared to Western productions, but I haven't seen this genre mixed with a good dose of humor until now. I wouldn't have expected it to result in such a great outcome. Although it sometimes behaves like a comedy, for most of the time it still relies on solid action, with no shortage of brutality and blood (a dismembered body tossed in the trash is a prime example). The main character, the protagonist, might just be my favorite actor from South Korea; he delivered some perfect lines ("Are you alone?" "Yes, still single.") and the film definitely relied on his performance. His biting remarks to all the involved characters had me in stitches. The trio of villains was also cast very well, each with a slightly different character. In terms of action, don't expect flashy shootouts; in fact, there isn't a single gunshot in the film. Instead, you'll get familiar fists or encounters with sticks... which gives the film extra points for uniqueness. And the final fight in the airport restrooms is undoubtedly a very well-crafted sequence, with impressive choreography of the strikes. For me, Ma Dong-seok earns a 90% and is my favorite character in the buddy crime-comedy genre; it will be hard for the competition to dethrone him from this position. (07/10/2020)

An excellent action ride and one of the best gang war films I've seen from South Korea. The Black Dragon gang comes to Korea from China to collect money from people who don't pay, and those who don't pay lose an arm or a leg. The local gang don't like that and of course the police, ruled by the absolutely fantastic Ma Dong-Seok (the guy is quite possibly the biggest current Korean star, his upcoming nine films are awesome), and here he takes down almost everyone on KO. Yoon Kye-sang does a very good villain again, he's the only one who can technically punch even though he often uses an axe or a knife. There is a lot of action, almost every moment there is some kind of brawl or someone getting hacked to pieces. The pace is very dynamic, the great visuals are a given, there are plenty of fights, they are more like street fights with knives, axes, baseball bats, but very good and decently brutal. I like that the film looks very real, it is not exaggerated, it does not play for effect, every blow hurt, even me, and when an arm is broken at the you have the feeling that it was really broken. The highlights are definitely the big gang clash in the hotel and the final fight in the toilet (technique vs force), which is begging for a fifth star. In the end I'll give a very strong four stars because I think it lacked a twist or a more interesting story, but otherwise I'm totally satisfied. Asia is having a very successful year. 85%. (16/11/2017)

The action is good, the fights are entertaining and just fists, knives and axes without guns. On the other hand, I find Korean movies terribly hard to digest time and time again, both the incomprehensible language and the chaos in names and characters, but what I miss most here is a more pronounced and gritty R-rating with the blood, and the two-hour running time is quite demanding, too. An inoffensive average, but fans of Korean cinema will probably be happy enough to throw in that extra star. (19/08/2022)