Talchul: Project Silence

In this tense film, a father and daughter are heading to Incheon Airport (South Korea). But weather conditions suddenly become so bad one can't distinguish anything right in front of them. Then a thick fog causes a massive pile-up, but there is a far more concerning threat. The situation worsens when mutant military dogs accidentally break out of their cages, leaving the people trapped in a life-or-death situation. So, people stranded on a bridge being relentlessly chased by a pack of dogs. The savage creatures were born from a military experiment, and being transferred in the utmost secrecy, are let loose. The bloody dogs go after them, causing wreak havoc and massacre.

Premiered at Cannes 2023, this is a fast-paced science fiction survival horror thriller, set on a bridge on the verge of collapse and a pack of mutant animals -lousily made in G. G. I- attacking here and there. So-so but passable film that represents a crossover of genres: ¨Horror¨, ¨Thriller¨, ¨Survival drama¨, ¨Sci-Fi¨ with Echoes, creatures born from a military experiment called Project Silence, and ¨Disaster¨ with several spectacular scenes invoving the bridge catastrophe including a spectacular and risked rescue that will have you on the edge of your seat. There are creepy mutated dogs with military purports that attack victims, which is a combination of terror and Sci-Fi, and following the tradition of assassin dogs in films like Dracula's Dog (1977) by Albert Band, A Dog Called... Vengeance (1977) by Antonio Isasi, Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) by Curtis Harrington and Rottweiler by (2004) by Brian Yuzna.

It was one of the last projects worked on by the late Lee Sun-kyun, star of the Oscar-winning ¨Parasite¨. Despite his burgeoning fame, Lee turned to low-budget arthouse films to polish his acting caliber. Night and Day, Lost in the Mountains, Oki's Movie, Nobody's Daughter Haewon and Our Sunhi were all directed by Hong Sang-soo, an auteur renowned for his realistic portrayal of ordinary lives. Lee was best known for his roles in the thriller Helpless (2012), romantic comedy All About My Wife (2012), and crime/black comedy A Hard Day (2014). In October 2023, it was revealed that Lee was booked for internal investigation over suspected drug use. As a result, he voluntarily dropped out of No Way Out, an upcoming thriller drama serial which just started its production days before the revelation of his alleged drug use. On December 27, 2023, Lee was found dead at the age of 48 inside his car at a park in central Seoul. Police responded to the scene after receiving a 112 report In the passenger seat was a charcoal briquette, commonly used in suicides in South Korea. The motion picture was uneven but professionally directed by Kim Tae-gon (Familyhood, The Sunshine Boys, Short! Short! Short!, The Pot). Rating: 5.5/10. Mediocre but acceptable and passable.

Literally this movie is just a bunch of CGI dogs running on a bridge and people acting hysterically. For the genre, it was poorly executed, seemed more focused on the CGI than the story and the action. I was bored out of my mind, as it completely did not resonate with me at all. I don't care about the characters and the actions sequences were predictable and cliche, bereft of any creativity or excitement.

For a Korean film, this is an extreme disappointment as Koreans are excellent in making movies that really move the heart, either in comedy or tragedy. I kinda wish they did zombies instead of dogs.

The concept underneath was fine, and it had potential too, but it did not transition into an effective finish by the climax, and I believe the writing is to be blamed!

Neither the characters nor the conversations they participate in have substantial impacts, primarily because the screenplay wandered cluelessly most of the time, failing to achieve the necessary tone and decorum!

The CGI too had its probelms, now generally I do not mind slight to moderate imperfections in visual effects, especially if the narrative is keeping me engaged, in this case however, frailties became quite apparent, to a point where they start acting as obstacles in the path of my enjoyment.

Obviously a riff on the dog eat dog quote ... so no pun intended. This is a "catastrophe movie" (if you remember or have seen some of them way back in the day, mostly in the 70s and maybe 80s, though coming back from time to time, San Andreas one of the "newer" ones) ... packed with some bite ... I mean dogs, to spice things up ... not in a eating them ... I won't even go there with a joke ... especially because the dogs are the ones attacking.

The story is quite paper thin ... but there is one side character ... when he is introduced I didn't really like him ... he is quite sleazy and tries to rip our main character off ... but later he becomes a really fun comical character who almost single-handedly saves the movie.

Characters doing stuff that does not make much sense ... but suspend your disbelief and you'll be good I reckon ... this is about having fun with a ridiculous idea ... nothing more, nothing less.

Hundreds of people get stuck on the airport bridge when thick fog causes a huge car pile-up. We follow Jeong-won and his daughter Kyeong-min, golf player Yoo-ra and her tour operator Mi-ran, an elderly couple Byeong-hak and Soon-ok (who suffers from Alzheimers), and truck driver Jo Park (who mainly serves as comic relief) as they deal with their situation.

Soon after the accident mutated dogs escape from the truck they were being transported in. Dogs were experimented on to be used for infiltration purposes for the military, but the dogs eventually became too aggressive. Doctor Yang, the project manager who is also trapped on the bridge, activates the dogs remotely, but also finds himself in a life-threatening situation when the dogs become out of control.

As the dogs start attacking people, it becomes a quest for survival for our heroes. To make matters worse, the badly damaged bridge is on the verge of collapse. The film had the potential to be a lot more suspenseful, but I guess they didn't want it too serious, so there's plenty of humour so the film can appeal to a wider audience. Some of the action sequences are well done, although the visual effects are not the greatest and the dogs are clearly CGI. This is still a very entertaining movie, so get the popcorn ready and enjoy this rollercoaster thrill ride.