The Roundup: Punishment (NC16)

109 minutes, opens on May 1
3 stars

The story: South Korean superstar Ma Dong-seok and his knuckles return as Detective Ma Seok-do to investigate an internet gambling scam.

An online casino cartel in The Roundup: Punishment is expanding from the Philippines into South Korea by kidnapping and executing programmers.

Ma Seok-do is a luddite. He barely understands his mobile phone, so do not for a moment think South Korea’s The Roundup blockbuster cop caper franchise (2017 to present) is finally entering the 21st century. The tech-centred plot serves mainly to set up laughs at his expense.

The hero is no fool, though. He knows to entrust the digital stuff to the cybercrime unit, so this fourth instalment remains happily old-school as Ma and his Seoul Metropolitan Police squad proceed with their usual business of pulverising bad guys.

There are two: a former mercenary (Kim Mu-yeol) running the syndicate and his tech genius partner (Lee Dong-hwi).

Ma Dong-seok has the charisma to convince as a big-hearted bruiser, and his rough justice – dispensed with a comically weary expression that says, “You leave me no choice but to hurt you” – is his down-to-earth appeal.

The star-driven action genre piece is sheer formula, as comforting in his ever invincible strength as it is tension-free for the same reason.

The crunchy fight scenes by director Heo Myeong-haeng, his long-time stunt choreographer, are the highlight. This is not a movie sensitive to the morality of police brutality: Ma punches and pummels, eventually laying waste to a plane’s first-class cabin and pausing only until the anticipated fifth entry in an eight-film series, each based on a real case.

Hot take: Enjoyed The Outlaws (2017), The Roundup (2022) and The Roundup: No Way Out (2023)? Here is a replay.

The Idea Of You (NC16)

115 minutes, premieres on Prime Video on May 2
3 stars

The story: A 40-year-old American divorcee Solene (Anne Hathaway) gets swept up in a relationship with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), lead singer of the hottest boy band on the planet.

The pop act in the romcom The Idea Of You, adapted from Robinne Lee’s 2017 same-titled beach read, are based on the British quintet One Direction.

English heart-throb Galitzine (Purple Hearts, 2022; Red, White & Royal Blue, 2023) plays Hayes as a hunkier, more charming Harry Styles. This is nevertheless Hathaway’s movie: She is radiant.

Solene is chaperoning her teen daughter (Ella Rubin) at the Coachella music festival in California when she wanders into Hayes’ trailer, mistaking it for the restroom. He is instantly smitten. Here is a beautiful woman uninterested in his fame and seemingly unaware even of who he is.

They begin a whirlwind romance on his European tour, sharing palpable chemistry, steamy hotel room sex and an easy connection. Solene’s blushing joy is like that of a schoolgirl in love.

She can handle his superstar status and screaming fans. But because she is clearly not a schoolgirl, there is the sexist online vitriol, and all of society’s – and her own – preconceptions of what the life of a woman her age should be. Is she not already content, being a devoted single mum and running a successful art gallery in Los Angeles?

Her self-doubts become a setback to her continued pursuit of happiness.

Director Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, 2017; The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, 2021) does not let this spoil the mood much. Everything is ultimately wrapped up in a glossy fantasy for adults, who will hopefully be inspired to open themselves to new possibilities.

Hot take: Ah, to be Anne Hathaway. This story of a near-middle-aged woman reclaiming her sexuality and rediscovering herself is attractively played escapism.