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The Outlaws
범죄도시
2017 121 min South Korea 18+
★7.7
Action, Crime, Thriller
Director: Yunsung Kang
Trailers
Description
In Chinatown, law and order is turned upside down when a trio of feral Chinese gangsters arrive, start terrorizing civilians, and usurping territory. The beleaguered local gangsters team up with the police, lead by the badass loose cannon Ma Seok-do, to bring them down. Based on a true story.
Budget:
$5.9M
Worldwide:
$52.95M
Starring
Ma Dong-seok
Actor
Yoon Kyesang
Actor
Jo Jae-yoon
Actor
Awards
12 wins & 13 nominations total
Key opinion
The Outlaws is a high-energy, classic police-action film that relies on the charismatic, brute-force performance of Ma Dong-seok to anchor a simple, gritty narrative. While critics note the film lacks complex thematic depth and remains surface-level, it is widely praised as a highly competent, entertaining, and well-executed entry in the crime genre.
| Acting | Ma Dong-seok delivers a powerhouse performance, anchoring the film with a mix of brutality, wit, and magnetic charisma. | |
| Direction | The action choreography is well-executed, favoring visceral, grounded encounters over unnecessary cinematic excess. | |
| Screenplay | The plot is straightforward and leans heavily on familiar genre tropes, leading to criticisms that it lacks thematic depth or complexity. | |
| Humor | The film strikes a balance between gritty violence and lighter humor, though some find the dialogue occasionally simplistic or naive. | |
| Production | Production design and cinematography are consistently praised for effectively capturing the gritty, nostalgic atmosphere of the 2000s Seoul underworld. | |
| Pacing | The pacing is brisk and energetic, though some viewers feel the limited action sequences keep the film from reaching masterpiece status. |