이민지
| 2026-05-21 11:23:43
(Movie Review) Colony
(Movie Review) 'Colony': inventive zombie spectacle with little room for characters
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- Director Yeon Sang-ho's "Colony" is the latest addition to his collection of finely crafted zombie universes -- this time featuring zombies evolving with collective intelligence -- culminating in a stylish and action-packed two-hour ride that perhaps whizzes by too quickly to fully develop its characters.
Set in a high-rise building in downtown Seoul, a biotech conference soon transforms into a gory scene of chaos as lone wolf researcher Seo Young-cheol, played by Koo Kyo-hwan, sets off a plan to infect people with a new virus he has concocted.
The film follows a familiar plot. As the building is cordoned off, it leaves a group of random survivors -- including biotechnology academics, a police officer, a security guard and IT industry worker who are brother and sister, and teenage bullies -- as they cooperate and confront each other to fight for their lives.
What they face is a species of zombies that first appear as primitive beings crawling on four legs but soon evolve in phases to become powerful creatures connected through a network that continues to strengthen them.
Seo -- who believes that being connected and controlled through this network for effective communication should be the future for mankind -- is the mastermind behind the mutation, orchestrating the growing number of zombies sometimes through the subtle twitch of facial muscles to uneven jerks using his whole body.
As the rules of the game keep shifting, it is blunt but righteous biotechnology professor Kwon Se-jeong, played by Jun Ji-hyun, who leads the group and discovers ways to trick the zombies to earn time for them to escape.
Amid the continuous wave of zombie attacks lurking in every corner of the building -- with the film shrewdly utilizing the different spaces of the high-rise engulfed in the apocalypse for the plot to proceed -- irritating characters, and bureaucratic and incompetent authorities only worsen the crisis.
As Yeon noted in a press conference in Seoul, zombies are the true main characters in this blockbuster.
The inventive species of zombies -- performed by modern dance groups -- does a superb job in creating a marvel for the eye with their meticulously choreographed moves.
One scene in the movie, which resembles an ant mill, or a deadly spiral in which ants get lost and blindly circle to death, is akin to a mesmerizing performance of modern dance.
Still, the film leaves little room for viewers to truly connect with and understand the characters -- played by a star-studded cast that has a track performance of solid acting and action performances.
While the film depicts bonds between some characters -- such as the strong tie between wheelchair-bound Hyun-hee (Kim Shin-rok) and her security guard brother, Hyun-seok (Ji Chang-wook) -- and inserts snippets of past memories that offer hints for the audience, telling more about the characters and the choices they make could have added depth that remains beyond the running time.
Yet Ji succeeds in pulling off remarkable and emotional combat scenes.
"Colony" premiered in the Midnight Screenings at this year's Cannes Film Festival, marking the fourth time Yeon was invited to the prestigious film fest.
The film hit local theaters Thursday.
(END)
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]