The Writer/director of Train to Busan, Yeon Sang-ho, is back with Colony, an all-new Zombie Horror film.
Some will want to label Yeon Sang-ho’s newest film, Colony, another in his Train to Busan series. It is, after all, about a viral outbreak set in South Korea. This is where the similarities stop. Colony, beyond being a clever play on the zombie tropes and infected the film is always a few steps ahead of you, adroitly aware of the clichés of the genre. The result is one of the best horror films of the year.
The film does have a passing resemblance to Dawn of the Dead, where a good portion does take place in a shopping mall area. This is where the similarities stop. The Romero sequel was about our ever-present need to consume and consumerism. Colony isn’t as heady in its themes. The film is more akin to the ingenious ways that the original Die Hard subverted the action genre; Colony subverts the outbreak genre.
Part of Colony’s strength, beyond its wildly creepy infected (he finds a new and icky entry point with viscera that’s less about blood and more about other … fluids), is how Director Yeon Sang-ho layers character work as much as he does story evolution throughout his film. A keen eye for action and choreographing mayhem since Train to Busan, it’s his rich stories that mix complex characters that have elevated his films to must-see events when they are released.
Colony and its bioterrorist villain Seo Young-cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan) always remain central to the film. Part of what makes the film so rewarding an experience beyond the twists and turns is that nothing is a coincidence in this film, though it may seem like it. Even the heroics of Kwon Se-jeong (Jun Ji-hyun), a biotech professor swept up into the terrifying outbreak, are something that evolves over the course of the film as you begin to learn her history.
Impressive in style, story, and execution, Colony takes a tried subgenre and breathes new life into it.
The Writer/director of Train to Busan, Yeon Sang-ho, is back with Colony, an all-new Zombie Horror film.
Some will want to label Yeon Sang-ho’s newest film, Colony, another in his Train to Busan series. It is, after all, about a viral outbreak set in South Korea. This is where the similarities stop. Colony, beyond being a clever play on the zombie tropes and infected the film is always a few steps ahead of you, adroitly aware of the clichés of the genre. The result is one of the best horror films of the year.
The film does have a passing resemblance to Dawn of the Dead, where a good portion does take place in a shopping mall area. This is where the similarities stop. The Romero sequel was about our ever-present need to consume and consumerism. Colony isn’t as heady in its themes. The film is more akin to the ingenious ways that the original Die Hard subverted the action genre; Colony subverts the outbreak genre.
Part of Colony’s strength, beyond its wildly creepy infected (he finds a new and icky entry point with viscera that’s less about blood and more about other … fluids), is how Director Yeon Sang-ho layers character work as much as he does story evolution throughout his film. A keen eye for action and choreographing mayhem since Train to Busan, it’s his rich stories that mix complex characters that have elevated his films to must-see events when they are released.
Colony and its bioterrorist villain Seo Young-cheol (Koo Kyo-hwan) always remain central to the film. Part of what makes the film so rewarding an experience beyond the twists and turns is that nothing is a coincidence in this film, though it may seem like it. Even the heroics of Kwon Se-jeong (Jun Ji-hyun), a biotech professor swept up into the terrifying outbreak, are something that evolves over the course of the film as you begin to learn her history.
Impressive in style, story, and execution, Colony takes a tried subgenre and breathes new life into it.
Colony is in theaters on August 28th.
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