Review | Rampant film review: zombies and political corruption in Korean period thriller from Train to Busan studio
- Unique plot sees the undead meet politics in the Joseon dynasty
- Clumsy execution sees storyline fall flat
2.5/5 stars
Following the incredible success of zombie juggernaut Train to Busan , Korean studio NEW hopes to recapture the box office magic with Rampant by unleashing undead hordes on Korean cinema’s other great love: the Joseon dynasty (1392 – 1987).
Rampant plunders similar territory to Huh Jong-ho’s recently released Monstrum , which also mixes period politics with supernatural elements. Director Kim Sung-hoon (Confidential Assignment) strikes a better balance between the two contrasting genres in Rampant, but only by presenting the encroaching army of “night demons” as a thinly veiled metaphor for the endemic corruption that ravages King Lee’s (Kim Eui-sung) court.
Hyun Bin stars as Lee’s prodigal son, Prince Ganglim, who returns home after 10 years’ imprisonment, to find his brother dead and father clinging to a crumbling throne beset by corrupt ministers and a deadly plague.
Jang Dong-gun steps up to the challenge as the nefarious war minister Kim Ja-joon, whose evil schemes are to blame for Lee’s kingdom’s current state of chaos. Having foiled a peasant uprising conceived by the virtuous Crown Prince, Kim looks to take control himself and wipe out Lee’s lineage for good. When an infectious disease is brought to shore by a merchant vessel, which turns those infected into crazed, contagious cannibals, Kim spies an opportunity to execute his plan.
