THE OUTLAWS (2017)
In the Seoul, South Korean criminal justice system, the people of the Garibong-dong neighborhood in the Guro District are represented by two separate yet equally important forces: Beast Cop’s massive left fist; and Beast Cop’s burly right. DUN-DUN!
I’m gonna be real with you guys: work bites. Even when you like your job there are those shifts that make you really regret rolling out of bed. By way of an example, I submit to you Dirty Rotten Imbecile’s seminal thrashcore banger “Money Stinks” (pause for moshing). For a second example there was this one time I worked load-in for a Dillinger Escape Plan show at a venue that was three flights of stairs up without an elevator. It was a schlep but not out of the ordinary for the space until we had to unload a 500-pound cable case that wouldn’t even fit through the stairwell. To solve for that heavyweight hiccup, we had to unpack and drag the 50-foot arm-width cable up the stairs like we were wrestling with a black dusty Titanoboa. That sucked.
While I was catching my breath on the bottom step basking in the breeze for a bit, my manager came in and tossed me a grease-stained brown paper bag. Contained therein was a butcher paper wrapped bacon cheeseburger from Johnny’s Grill, the greasy spoon diner that shares a wall with the venue. When I looked at it quizzically, he said with a shrug “Sometimes work sends some bullshit your way that is beyond the scope of your hourly pay. On those days, you should get a free burger.” He wasn’t aware of it then, but my old boss was channeling the managerial spirit of Garibong-dong ace Detective Ma Seok-do from the 2017 hit action flick BEOMJOIDOSI, directly translates to “crime city” but retitled THE OUTLAWS here in the states! Even more so when he let Dillinger Escape Plan pick up the tab for the burgers.
THE OUTLAWS is South Korean crime cinema ripped from the headlines by way of a real life gang war in Seoul’s Chinatown neighborhood known as the "Heuksapa Incident" but what really separates this from other cops and crooks chronicles is the incomparable charisma of the main protagonist, the unnerving viciousness of the antagonists, and enveloping both of these diasporic elements in a charming slice of life realism that’s just so damn cozy! If all that sounds appealing, then you’ll be happy to learn there are 3 more of these movies (and counting) besides this one in a series and they’re all of a similarly high quality in my estimation.
Our character conduit to this cornucopia of Korean crime is Detective Ma Seok-do played by Ma Dong-seok, otherwise known as Don Lee here in the U.S. when he trained mixed martial arts in Ohio. Ma Seok-do is also lovingly referred to as “Beast Cop” or “Monster Cop” (not to be confused with Robert Z'Dar’s MANIAC COP (1988)) due to his size and savage pugelistic power. At 5’ 10” Seok-do weighs in at about 260 lbs with most of that heft hanging tough on his ample arms. Belying all that beef is an awesomely amiable appearance and allure. In brief, bro is hella cute.
Through his countenance and charisma Ma Seok-do maintains an unsteady peace in Chinatown’s underworld over gogigui and occasional fisticuffs but with a desire to keep the murder and mayhem to a minimum along with protecting any citizenry who may get caught in the crossfire and all the better if he should get a free beer or hardboiled egg out of the deal. Seok-do would sit down fighting factions and scold them to “Become BFFs, go to brunch and get your hair done together” to de-escalate any rising tensions. Respect for Ma Seok-do would maintain the status quo and keep crime in check.
That is until the arrival of Heilongpa or “Dragon Gang.” Relocating from Harbin, China, the trio of Jang Chen, Wi Sung-rak, and Yang-tae have no qualms about upending this fragile armistice with extreme prejudice. Immediately, we see the viciousness in which they operate as they’re more likely to hack and slash rather than slug it out in a street fight. Jang Chen demonstrates a cold sense of cutthroat brutality in the escalation of his criminal enterprise in Garibong. There’s an expertly used economy of storytelling upon their introduction. Through minimal words we as the audience can see that this new trio is a malignant element in the delicate criminal ecosystem of Chinatown and as they lambast their way through dozens of rival thugs with ease along with any innocent civilians unlucky enough to cross their path, the viewer is absolutely salivating for comeuppance courtesy of Beast Cop!
A skillful set up for criminal action cinema for sure, but largely boilerplate stuff for the subgenre so far. What really takes THE OUTLAWS up a notch is its adeptness at pivoting to moments of comedy or delightful down-to-earthness. In between alley fights there’s laughs over hotpots. Maybe you want to follow a workout with a rubdown and a hardboiled egg from the scariest looking tattooed guy in the place. After an axe fight you can have a beer at a karaoke bar and it’s like I always say: never trust a man who brings a hatchet to karaoke. Juxtaposing the gritty gangland violence with what feels like a very lived in a real atmosphere gives the story stakes as well as charm.
Even Ma Seok-do’s acts of police brutality have heaps of humor and heart. At their police office they have the Truth Room and Truth Helmet which amounts to little more than a curtain and a motorcycle helmet where Seok-do can covertly womp suspects in the head during an interrogation but not seriously injure them. He even has a measured and thoughtful approach to his street fights starting with an open hand, which is like phasers on stun, and only balls up his mammoth mitts and goes full bore when necessary, phasers on kill, and even then, he’s not trying to murder a suspect. It’s like Captain Jeon Il-man says, “People are mistaking you for a model cop.”
Yeah, all cops are still bastards but at least the Beast Cop is a bewitching one. Ma Seok-do is a bit of a son of a bitch but he’s a civic-minded son of a bitch who even wants the crooks to be okay as long as he can grant the greater good for the community. His tender/tough love moments with Wang-oh at Yeon-gil restaurant and his plea to the citizenry to help in the criminal roundup (hey, that becomes the U.S. name for the franchise!) show that his heart is in the right place. Demonstrating that everything is a little seedy and everyone is a bit dirty in Garibong-dong, Seoul provides a pretty palette promising a plethora of shades of grey that I absolutely adore watching them paint with. I could watch Ma Dong-seok make a million of these films!
