Zombie flick, ‘Colony,’ undead on arrival

       There’s a quarter of a good movie lurking inside the zombie dance recital that is Yeon Sang-ho’s “Colony.” Set in a soulless Seoul, it posits the fascinating idea that a bioengineered mold can both regenerate damaged tissue and open the door for humans to think and behave cooperatively like ants. It’s greeted as potentially the next GLP-1, a multi-beneficial cure-all guaranteed to improve the lives of millions. The caveat is that it has yet to be tested on humans.

    No problem. The ousted employee who invented it, Suh Young-chul (Koo Kyo-hwan), has plans to corner his former boss (Kom Jeong-tae) and inject him with a massive dose that instantly transforms the CEO into a crazed, blood-sucking zombie. Not just any zombie, mind you, but one that can emulate the ballet contortions of a Twyla Tharp. This remarkable ability qualifies him as patient zero in a massive epidemic that, in the blink of an eye, infects almost everyone in an office tower anchored by a crowded shopping mall.

    This is when Yeon steps to the side and turns the reins over to choreographer Jeon Young, who creates an eye-popping spectacle of contorted bodies moving in unison on all fours as they lunge savagely at a few dozen normies holed up inside a sporting goods store. The dancers, er, zombies, pound the shop’s windows, leaving a gooey mix of blood, puke and saliva coating the glass. It’s legitimately frightening, not to mention gross. It also creates a rare opportunity for the uninfected to conceive of ways to outsmart the highly adaptive succubi, always acting in unison with the menacing thoughts of their master, Suh.

     Leading the resistance is disgraced scientist and bioengineering expert, Professor Kwon Se-jeong (Jun Ji-hyun), who is conveniently inside the building at the behest of her ex-hubby, Han (Go Soo), to pursue a job opportunity with the company that formulated the zombie serum. Thus, the stage is set for a classic us-against-them match of wits and intelligence. And for a good while, it sizzles with excitement, as the uninfected stage a series of daring rescues and escapes.

    Alas, about 40 minutes into this 122-minute slog, it becomes painfully clear Yeon (“Train to Busan”) is fresh out of ideas, bombarding us with the same scene over and over, with few variations beyond where the battles are staged within the now-quarantined building. No one is going in, and no one is coming out, per the authorities’ order. As you’d expect from this and the zillion other zombie movies, the hunted start off in harmony but slowly start to turn on each other, leaving you to wonder if they’d be better off left to the zombies.

     Late in the picture, I was vehemently rooting for the undead to vanquish the last holdouts, simply so we could declare an end to this monotonous exercise. The one exception being Jun’s Se-jeong, the only character close to being fleshed out. She’s also the easiest on the eyes; purely intentional, I’m sure. As the instigator of this mayhem, Koo’s Suh has his moments, too, making the most of how well he conveys narcissistic smugness.

    He and Jun are the only members of the ensemble meriting memorable status. The rest are interchangeable meat sacks for the slobbering hordes to devour.  And their demise is a direct result of their inherent stupidity, often defying their own survival strategies, including one in which the survivors agree to converse only via text so as not to be overheard by Suh and his minions.

    In that respect, “Colony” works twofold, accentuating the dangers of messing with Mother Nature as well as mankind’s gross failures to replicate how the rest of nature – bees, ants, birds – effectively communicate in service of the greater good. Yeon’s point is well taken. And all one needs to do is look at how divisive “Colony” is sure to be with the masses. Some will love it; others will be put off by its pretentious artiness. For me, it couldn’t end soon enough.

Movie review

Colony

Rated: R for bloody violent content and some language

Cast: Koo Kyo-hwan, Jun Ji-hyun, Ji Chang-wook, Kim Shin-rock, Kom Jeong-tae and Shin Hyeon-bin

Director: Yeon Sang-ho

Writers: Choi Kyu-seok and Yeon Sang-ho

Runtime: 121 minutes

Where: Now in theaters

Grade: C-