“The Outlaws” Korean Theatrical Poster
Director: Kang Yoon-Sung
Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Yoon Kye-Sang, Jo Jae-Yun, Choi Gwi-Hwa, rk Ji-Hwan, Hong Ki-Joon
Running Time: 121 min.
By Z Ravas
I walked away from 2016’s smash hit Train to Busan with a distinct impression that supporting actor Ma Dong-seok had stolen the movie – no small feat in a film about a train full of rabid zombies! Although I’d caught the actor in plenty of parts before, including Kundo: Age of the Rampant and The Unjust, it was his role as a proud papa-to-be defending his family against the zombie masses that forever endeared Ma Dong-seok to me. Only a year later, he’s back with a role that feels entirely tailored to Dong-seok and his onscreen persona, which is one that’s equal parts lovable teddy bear and hulking bruiser.
The Outlaws is based on the true story of a 2007-era police operation that saw a sweeping round-up of gangs in the Guro District of Seoul. One neighborhood there in particular, Garibong-dong, has long served as a home to many Chinese citizens who have emigrated to Korea seeking economic prosperity. Unfortunately, Seoul’s version of Chinatown is also plagued by criminals and lowlifes, some of whom smuggled themselves into the country to escape Chinese authorities. As the film opens, Ma Dong-seok’s seasoned detective is able to keep the peace on his beat by primarily serving as a mediator between gangs, most of whom are petty hoods just looking for a little extortion money – not drug dealers or murderers. Ma Dong-seok’s laconic style of police work, which occasionally sees him sitting down for tea or sharing a drink at a karaoke bar with organized crime for the sake of brokering a truce, is challenged by the emergence of a nihilistic criminal (played by Golden Slumber‘s Yoon Kye-sang) and his duo of vicious enforcers.
I’m imagining the film’s storyline is “loosely” based on real life incidents, as the conflict in The Outlaws quickly boils over to the kind of street-level anarchy one might expect in a Takashi Miike Yakuza flick. In fact, part of pleasure of The Outlaws‘ opening half hour is watching the Guro District’s carefully maintained ecosystem utterly up-ended by Yoon Kye-sang, an almost Joker-like instigator who has no qualms about chopping off someone’s hand if he feels they’ve disrespected him. Ma Dong-seok’s scrappy police team and the other local hoods are all caught entirely unprepared for Yoon Kye-sang’s savage gangland takeover, and the pressure to capture the dangerous criminal mounts as the body count rises.
46 year-old writer/director Kang Yoon-sung appears to have arrived out of nowhere, but he actually spent a few years as an actor before realizing he felt more at home behind the camera. The Outlaws makes for an auspicious debut, and the movie not only made a splash at the box office but landed Kang Yoon-sung a well-deserved nomination for Best New Director at the Blue Dragon Film Awards. Part of the reason the film is so successful is how vividly the filmmaker captures the texture and feel of the Guro District. The movie lands on the shortlist of Korean movies that really go out of their way to establish a sense of place beyond the neon glow of downtown Seoul, and the screenplay devotes time to depicting just how much local business owners and concerned citizens are suffering due to the turf warfare erupting around them. Kang Yoon-sung reportedly spent three years perfecting the script, and it shows; much like Asura: City of Madness, I would not be surprised if the director was in part inspired by HBO’s The Wire, as the film displays some of that show’s scope and ambition.
Despite plenty of humor, much of it derived from Ma Dong-seok’s pitch-perfect comic timing, The Outlaws doesn’t shy away from brutal violence or short bursts of choreographed action; Kang Yoon-sung even offers an impressive single camera take of Yoon Kye-sang slicing up the guests at a birthday party with a hatchet. One might say a flaw of the script is that it has to tie itself in knots to make sure Ma Dong-seok and Yoon Kye-sang never end up in the same room together, lest the film be over long before its two hour runtime; but when the hard-nosed detective and amoral crime boss finally do come face to face, the wait is more than worth it. From True Lies to The Man From Nowhere, there’s something of an unwritten rule that fight scenes in bathrooms are always good, and – without spoiling anything – The Outlaws gives a titanic tussle in the Incheon International Airport bathroom that certainly lives up to the memorable action sequences that have come before.
Ever since Oldboy gained the attention of the international scene way back in 2003, South Korean has been firing on all cylinders with stellar genre fare; even so, it feels like the industry has been on a particular hot streak during the past few years, and for me The Outlaws easily ranks alongside the best the country has been offering as of late. The film offers a role that feels tailor made for charismatic tough guy Ma Dong-seok, and serves as the rare blend of action and comedy that doesn’t hold back when it comes to hard-hitting violence. No matter what project writer/director Kang Yoon-sung tackles next, I guarantee I’ll be buying a ticket.
Z Ravas’ Rating: 8.5/10
I wanna own this movie! When is it gonna come out on Blu Ray?!
Great question! As far as I know, the only way to see this movie right now in North America is to rent or purchase it on Amazon’s streaming service. It really does a deserve a physical release.
Released last week! You can choose from the Full Slip Limited Edition or the suitably epic Special Boxset Limited Edition.
I just ordered it! Now when the F are they gonna release 1987 on bluray?!
Tell me about it! The HK Blu-ray came out last week as well, but I’m holding out for the Korean goodness.
Fantastic review Zack! I’ve been looking forward to this one (and reviewing it – you b*#$@%d!) for a while, and now even more so.
I’m a big fan of Ma Dong-seok as well, and am pretty sure the first movie I saw him in was ‘The Good, The Bad, The Weird’, in which he has a small but memorable role as a bulked up bandit with an over-sized hammer. Even his brief cameo appearances in flicks like ‘Veteran’ and ‘Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds’ make an impression.
Oh, and the bad guy in this, Yoon Kye-sang, happens to be the lead of the drama I recommended to you over in the ‘Tunnel’ comments – 2014’s ‘The Full Sun (aka Beyond the Clouds)’.
Keep the Zavas review train rolling!
I got through watching this one last night, and loved it! You nailed it in you review Zack. This was pretty much everything I’d been hoping ‘Unstoppable’ would be, but fell short. Really great use of the Garibong-dong locations, just the right amount of humour, and a healthy dose of action. I sometimes felt that Yoon Kye-sang was trying a little too hard to channel Kim Yun-seok’s Yanbian gangster from ‘The Yellow Sea’, but that’s a minor quibble. Nice cameos from Cho Jin-woong and Dong-seok’s girlfriend Ye Jung-hwa as well.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one, Paul! It’s quite an entertaining film. I wish that the Blu-ray was a bit more affordable (it only seems to be available in limited editions and box sets), as this is one I would actually like to own.
Now that you mention it, I can see the similarities between Yoon Kye-sang’s performance and Kim Yun-seok in ‘Yellow Sea.’ I do think Yoon Kye-sang’s character’s youth and vanity gave him a bit of a different flavor. It seemed like he was always tying up or letting down his voluminous hair, ha ha. I love them both in those respective roles, though, and ‘Yellow Sea’ is one of my favorite Korean films of all time.
I’ll probably rewatch ‘The Outlaws’ over the holiday break. Let me tell you, I’m looking forward to that bathroom fight scene again!
Definitely! & since you wrote this review, we should also add ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ to the list of great bathroom fight scenes!
Paul,
I just finished watching this, and I wanted to say that I thought the humor was fantastic as well as unexpected in such an otherwise serious film.
The airport staff insisting on interrupting the Chief’s duties to get him to sign off on the damage was a real treat.
And yes, another great bathroom fight! Bathrooms and elevators (thinking of the knife fight from New World) always seem to have the best fight scenes : )
Yeah it’s definitely a modern classic! You can find our reviews of the sequels via the links –
The Roundup (2022)
The Roundup: No Way Out (2023)
The Roundup: Punishment (2024)
& agreed on the fight locations, I’ll throw in kitchens to that list as well! 🙂
I finally watched The Outlaws, and I liked it. Ma Dong-Seok was great as the gruff, slightly vulgar, yet still reasonable cop. He had a good balance of wanting to be honest while resorting to the minimum of dirty tricks.
The scenes where he kept paying everyone off made me laugh, as he seemed to take it for granted that it would solve his problems. The bickering with him and the other cops was also funny.
I do kind of wish that the main focus was kept on Dong-Seok vs Kye-Sang. I felt like the later’s feuds with the various criminals was a distraction from the main story. Sometimes it felt like the movie was about him while Dong-Seok would be on the back burner.
The climatic fight scene was nice stuff. Dong-Seok used a bit more technique than he did in Unstoppable, and it was nice to see him do wristlocks, arm locks, and hip tosses.
I’d like to get the Blu Ray, but the $40 price tag is a bit much. I know the R3 DVD is cheaper, but I’d rather not lug my DVD player around when I want to bring movies to friend’s houses.