Fantasia '18 Film Review - The Outlaws

In 2004 Seoul's Chinatown in the Garibong district was being brutalized by gang rivalries from back home that had come to the city and set up shop. They ran arcades, gambling dens, girls, leaning on the local shopkeepers and restaurants for protection money. The police set up a project to clean up the area. Local detective Ma Seok-do (Don Lee / Ma Dong-seok) leads the Police task force. Ma's style is the heavy confrontational hands-on approach with his fellow detectives often covering up security cameras in the station as he caries out his unique interrogation techniques. The local constabulary manage to keep a happy balance between the rival forces until a new player comes to town lead by
Jang Chen (Yoon Kye-sang) looking to collect debts run up back in China. The trio is ruthless looking to take body parts for payment delays, stabbing rivals while generally upsetting the uneasy balance in the community.

Don Lee shines in the lead role. He is tough, pragmatic yet funny with a superior sense of timing as he delivers his lines. Yoon Kye-Sang is a worth equal as his foil Jang Chen. He is steely calm letting his two subordinates do most of the dirty work until he comes across a rival that requires his personal attention then he unleashes a furiousness that puts the rest of his crew to shame.

Director Kang Yun-sung delves into the Korean Chinese rivalry focusing on the narrow streets and back alleys of the seedier parts of town. Small cramped spaces, street vendor stalls, multi-level low rooftops and railings fill the frame making the perfect setting for tight quartered had to hand combat. The story has three threads but all will be familiar to the viewer who will come to these subjects with a personal frame of reference.

The Outlaws is a successful crime drama. Lead actor Don Lee commands the screen with fellow policemen and gangsters reacting to his major presence and high likability factors. Based on a true story the narrative recounts a critical time in Chinese Korean relations that needed a tough approach which is clearly displayed here.

***1/2 Out of 4.

The Outlaws | Kang Yu-sung |South Korea | 121 Minutes.

Tags: Seoul,  Garibong District, Crime, Debt Collector, Axe, Gangs, Interrogation, Bats, Birthday Party, Stab Proof Vest.