Rating: C+
Dir: Kim Tae-gon
Star: Lee Sun-kyun, Ju Ji-hoon, Kim Hee-won, Kim Su-an
If I ever end up creating When Korean Animals Attack, this one might be my patient zero. Except that, this also fits squarely in the disaster porn genre. It’s as if the makers of The Towering Inferno had decided to lob a swarm of killer bees at the burning skyscraper. We begin with hard-bitten and cynical career politician Cha Jeon-won (Lee) taking his daughter Kyung-min (Kim S-a) to the airport. Fans of Korean cinema already know this won’t end well, because Kim played the daughter being transported by her father, in the zombie classic, Train to Busan. If she ever asks you for a lift, I would suggest you decline. It won’t end well.
Here, a massive road accident on a bridge is only the first problem. Among the vehicles involved is a military transport, which is shifting the remnants of a failed attempt to produce weaponized canines, presumably to the glove factory. The helicopter sent to tidy up the mess makes things worse, crashing into the bridge, fatally weakening it. And, of course, releasing the dogs of war. Jeon-won has to try and get off the collapsing bridge, with the variable assistance of tow-truck driver Joe Park (Ju) and Dr. Yang (Kim H-w), the scientist in charge of the project. Complicating matters further, those behind it are not happy about having it revealed. Jeon-won is going to get a harsh lesson of what it means to be on the receiving end of realpolitik.
It’s all quite ludicrous, but is executed with an admirably straight face. This goes a long way to selling the concept, when some occasionally ropey CGI falls short. It feels like the makers only had one real dog, then made heavy use of motion capture and copy-paste to create the pack. It does eventually explain why they all look identical: basically, they are all clones from the same mother. But if that weren’t enough, Dr. Yang goes on to claim the original bitch is driven by wanting revenge, for being made to watch the cruel treatment meted out to her puppies. Yeah. This is Orca: Killer Whale with a wet nose, and on a structure of questionable engineering integrity.
It helps the amusement level that the characters are well-drawn. Joe was perhaps my favourite: we first meet him, trying to scam customers at a petrol station. His macho posturing is almost entirely undermined by the small dog, Jodie, he takes everywhere with him. Jeon-won has a nice arc. It’s good to see a hero who has genuinely learned from his experiences. As well as a viewing of Die Hard, it appears – you’ll understand when you see it. Less successful are some supporting roles. There’s a golf pro and her manager, who serve no discernible purpose. However, you don’t watch disaster porn or animal attack films for the characters. You do so for the running and screaming: this provides adequate quantities of both.