Movie review: Rampant

WHILE Lee Chung (Hyun Bin) is a prince of Joseon and talented swordsman, he has no interest in taking over the throne. This womanising prince and gambler hates any type of responsibilities.
But when he learns his brother Lee Young (Kim Tae Woo) has killed himself, Chung returns home to attend his funeral and finds a kingdom in chaos.
His father, King Lee Jo (Kim Eui Sung), is suffering from paranoia that everyone, including his children, is out to kill him and take his throne. Chung learns that it was his father’s suspicions and accusations that pushed his brother to kill himself.
Ironically, Chung also discovers that the king’s most trusted minister Kim Ja-joon (Jang Dong-gun) has been secretly planning to kill the whole royal family and crown himself king.
To make things worse, a mysterious plague is turning some people into zombies (yes, zombies!) who begin attacking other uninfected folks. And the zombies are heading to the royal castle.
This historical drama with the zombie twist so predictable that you can almost guess who will die and who will survive the zombies’ attack, and how the story would shape out in the end.
With hardly any surprising elements to hold our interest, it certainly puts a great damper to enjoying the story.
What saves the film is the fantastic convincing performance from the cast.
The handsome Hyun is witty and perfect as the womanising prince who is caught up in this situation.
But the show stealer has to be Jang as the treacherous minister. Kim’s greed for power and the throne is played out subtly by Jang – his acting is an amazing sight.
I always find many Malaysian actors playing villains having the tendency to shout out their dialogue at the top of their voice and over-act in their roles, just to emphasis their nastiness. Sometimes, their acting looks more ridiculous than evil.
They should watch this film and learn a lesson or two from Jang that sometimes, subtleties make for a more effective villain.