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| Actor Hyun Bin is seen in the upcoming zombie blockbuster "Rampant." / Courtesy of NEW |
By Park Jin-hai
A much anticipated new zombie blockbuster, dubbed as a Joseon-era version of the 2016 box-office hit "Train to Busan," has been unveiled to the media.
In "Rampant," director Kim Sung-hoon, of last year's action blockbuster "Confidential Assignment," has joined hands with heartthrob Hyun Bin as his lead actor once again.
It tells the story of Yi Chung, a prince who returns from the Qing Empire after his brother the crown prince's death. Yi happens to meet "night demons," zombie and vampire hybrid-like monsters that follow loud sounds around and only attack human at nights, on his way to the palace.
Facing the king, who only wants to keep his throne and find traitors, and Kim Ja-joon, played by Jang Dong-gun, an ambitious minister of war who doesn't welcome Yi's return, Yi teams up with a band of people to fight the night demons and save the nation.
Compared with Yeon Sang-ho's "Train," which explores human nature in the apocalyptic zombie pandemic, "Rampant" gives the impression it is more focused on the action and thrills of seeing flesh-eating, blood-sucking zombies.
The director, who showed an extravaganza of adrenaline-pumping gun shooting and car chase scenes with actor Hyun in his previous work, puts the actor in the zombie-slashing hero story this time.
The 17 billion won budget film is visually pleasing.
Zombies in traditional Korean costumes attacking people at the royal palace and the detailed transformation of those infected into the walking dead, aided by great stage makeup and performances of extras, make scenes as dreadful as "Train."
Hyun's skillful action scenes with a long sword, almost singlehandedly defeating zombies endlessly swarming from all directions, are entertaining. The film keeps viewers on the edge of their seats with nerve-wracking moments to the last.
Questionable has been the humor of satirizing the impeached former President Park Geun-hye and her government.
The incompetent king doesn't do anything about the catastrophe that kills his own citizens but focuses on finding traitors so he can keep his throne. His remark "this is not why I became the king" evokes images of the ousted president and her unapologetic speech following the nation being plagued in the 2016 corruption scandal involving her close aides.
That last scene is deja vu of the candlelight vigil that dethroned the former president and closes with the message that "power comes from the people, not from the ruler."
The director said he used satirical elements as "a means to entertain audiences," getting laughs from time to time.
"Those images that I have in my head while making a film cannot be detached from the era I've been living in. But those were used as an element to provide fun, not something I wrote with the certain intention to deliver a message," the director said during a recent press conference in Seoul. "I just want audiences to take my film as one they can sit back and enjoy."
But the film seems to work adversely as loosening up the thrill and chills the zombies worked hard to create.
Another letdown has been lack of character development. Except for Yi, who grows to become a true leader from the womanizing prince disinterested in politics, other characters are all good versus evil. Its plot reminds audiences of the monster film "Monstrum" that was released last month as well, where people hunt down the man-eating, plague-spreading monster that appeared in a royal palace of Joseon.
Yet, for those movie fans who enjoyed Hyun's actions in "Confidential Assignment," "Rampant," where the actor's stylish action scenes take the lion's share of the film, will be equally entertaining with some chills around this Halloween.
The film will hit local theaters on Oct. 25. It will be released in 19 countries including Germany, Britain, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the United States within two weeks after its local premiere.
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