“Intense Action” vs “Ordinary Genre Film”: Mixed Reviews for Director Yeon Sang-ho’s New Zombie Movie ‘Gunche’

“It might be expected, but ‘Gunche’ doesn’t quite reach the high bar set by its predecessor, ‘Train to Busan’.” (The Playlist)

Director Yeon Sang-ho’s new film ‘Gunche’ had its world premiere in Cannes, France, on the 16th (local time) at 12:30 AM. Screened in the ‘Midnight Screening’ section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, the movie successfully concluded its first screening with a seven-minute standing ovation.

Following the lineage of Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie hits like ‘Train to Busan’ (2016) and ‘Peninsula’ (2020), ‘Gunche’ tells the story of isolated survivors fighting ‘evolving’ infected individuals in a building locked down due to a mysterious mass infection. Jun Ji-hyun, making her return after 11 years, plays biotechnologist ‘Kwon Se-jung’ who leads the survivors, while Koo Kyo-hwan plays ‘Seo Young-chul’, the biologist who caused the infection.

Ji Chang-wook and Kim Shin-rok, who play ‘Choi Hyun-seok’ and ‘Choi Hyun-hee’ (the only blood relatives among the survivors), and Shin Hyun-bin, who plays biotechnology professor ‘Kong Seol-hee’, also walked the red carpet in Cannes.

At the premiere, Director Yeon shared his thoughts, saying, “It is a true honor to present ‘Gunche’ at the Cannes Film Festival, which I have always dreamed of. I think this will be a memory that stays with me for a very long time.”

While anticipation is high among movie fans globally for this new Yeon Sang-ho zombie flick, reactions from foreign media and critics are mixed. Some praise the intense action and essence of the zombie genre, while others express disappointment regarding the depth of the characters and the strength of the message.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) noted, “The attempt to liken the zombie outbreak to modern society’s addiction to social media or the uncritical acceptance of AI technology is noticeable,” adding, “It is a quite intense film as a piece of entertainment, with fast and dazzling action.”

However, it also mentioned, “The film’s critical awareness does not develop further, focusing instead on action and entertainment,” and “While it seems meaningful on the surface, it lacks sufficient emotion or insight.”

Entertainment outlet The Playlist pointed out that the infected, who evolve through collective intelligence, are “quite eerie as they begin to communicate with each other.”

But it critiqued, “As the movie progresses toward the end, it trips itself up by piling on new settings and cluttered elements,” noting that “the most impressive moments occurred when it maintained simplicity.”

The entertainment awards website Next Best Picture pointed out the lack of character depth. The outlet analyzed, “The characters are surprisingly flat, so there is almost no emotional impact even when they are eaten by the infected,” concluding that it is “nothing more than an ordinary genre movie.”

The US pop culture outlet The Wrap also noted, “There is a lack of depth to allow for emotional immersion in the characters.”

Nevertheless, the outlet praised, “The idea of reinterpreting them as beings who can communicate with each other is interesting, and the action sequences are well-made,” adding, “If you are expecting realistic action, this movie fully meets those expectations.”