Ma Dong-seok “Among 4 films in ‘The Outlaws’ series, ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ received highest score at blind previews”
Ma Dong-seok, who appeared in Netflix’s movie “Badland Hunters” (directed by Heo Myung-haeng), shared his thoughts on the release of the work through an interview held on February 1st in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Released through Netflix on January 26th, “Badland Hunters” is a sequel to the previous year’s “Concrete Utopia” and takes up the story post-earthquake transformation of Seoul into an apocalyptic wasteland, where everything from law and order to civilization has collapsed. Ma Dong-seok played the role of Nam-san, a relentless wasteland hunter.
Directed by Heo Myung-haeng, who previously worked as the martial arts director for various works including Netflix’s series “Kingdom” and movies such as the “The Outlaws” series, “Phantom”, “Hunt” and “Train to Busan”, “Badland Hunters” immediately ranked first in the global viewing rankings for Netflix movies (according to the OTT content ranking site FlixPatrol) upon its release.
In addition to this good news, “The Roundup: Punishment”, a film produced, planned and starring Ma Dong-seok, was officially invited to the “Berlinale Special Gala” section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, which will take place from February 15th. Regarding this, Ma Dong-seok expressed his feelings, calling it a “grateful event”.
“The Roundup: Punishment” depicts an upgraded crime crackdown operation led by monster detective Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok) and his cybercrime investigation team formed to apprehend the largest illegal online gambling organization in Korea. The film is scheduled for release this year.
Regarding “The Roundup: Punishment”, Ma Dong-seok raised expectations by stating, “Among the four films in the series, it received the highest score at blind previews. The tone is heavier, and Ma Seok-do’s emotional line is stronger. However, there’s also fun comedy amidst that.“
When asked if there was any fear that the audience might not feel new excitement with the formula of “Ma Dong-seok = action”, he responded, “Because the ‘The Outlaws’ series has amassed a total of 30 million admissions, regardless of which work you see me in, you might feel familiar. If it’s because of familiarity, then ‘The Roundup’ and ‘The Roundup: No Way Out’ shouldn’t have been successful either. I think movies just need to be enjoyable. There shouldn’t be a consciousness or compulsion to ‘do a variety of things’. Just make it enjoyable.”
Source: Daum
