This & That: Monster flicks with heart and Seoul – ‘Colossal’ and ‘Train to Busan’

South Korea is plunged into chaos in two very different films, now streaming at SBS On Demand.

‘Train to Busan’. Source: Distributor

On the surface, Colossal and Train To Busan – both available at SBS On Demand – have a few things in common. They were released in 2016 and feature monsters tearing apart Seoul, South Korea. But that’s where the similarities end.

Colossal

The chief monster in Colossal is a Godzilla-like kaiju crushing parts of the city underfoot, but it pales next to the terrifying human monster whose shocking arrival in the second half takes viewers into much darker territory.

The movie begins with unemployed writer Gloria (Anne Hathaway) being thrown out of her New York apartment by workaholic boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens), who’s fed up with her heavy drinking and non-stop partying. She’s forced to return to her hometown in rural New Hampshire where she bumps into old school chum Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), who now runs his father’s bar. The easygoing bachelor offers her a waitressing job and they’re soon best buds, boozing into the wee hours at the bar with his mates.

At this point, viewers might think Gloria and Oscar are going to get together because he seems like a chilled, fun guy unlike her uptight ex. But Oscar has a manipulative petty side, which is revealed not long after the news breaks that a giant monster is appearing night after night in Seoul, smashing buildings and killing hundreds, before mysteriously vanishing.

Colossal gets even weirder as Gloria discovers she’s mysteriously linked to the kaiju and can control it. And what is Oscar’s connection with the giant robot that appears in Seoul soon afterwards? Is it friendly or an even bigger threat to the city’s inhabitants?

‘Colossal’. Source: Distributor

Hathaway is fabulous as the troubled Gloria, struggling with alcoholism and lousy taste in men. Credit is also due to Sudeikis for taking a likeable character in Oscar and, mid-way through, turning him into a despicable human being. A real monster, in fact.

Colossal gleefully hops genres, starting out as a quirky small-town romance, before taking a left turn into kaiju territory, then descending into a grim exploration of addiction, domestic violence and toxic masculinity. And it’s all tinged with the blackest of humour.

If that makes your head spin, then you’re not alone. Critics were split down the middle – Rolling Stone
said Colossal was “seriously unmissable” and gave it 3½ stars, while Rex Reed from The New York Observer
panned the flick as “monstrously stupid”.

Written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo, Colossal can be disorienting and there are several genuinely upsetting scenes. But if viewers stick with it, they’ll be rewarded by a cinematic experience unlike any other.

Train to Busan

Thankfully, there’s no genre mash-up in Train To Busan. It wears its gore-flecked, zombie apocalypse badge with pride, but still manages to squeeze in some tender moments between the violence and blood-letting.

The opening sequence sets the stage as we witness the obligatory leak in a South Korean biochemical factory. Quicker than you can say “George Romero”, fast-moving zombies are roaming the land. At the same time in Seoul, workaholic dad Seo Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is taking his young daughter Soo-an (Kim Soo-ahn) on an early-morning train trip to nearby Busan to visit his estranged wife for Soo-an’s birthday.

The train pulls out of the station just as the first zombies arrive on the platform. Unfortunately, a bite victim also makes it onto one of the rear carriages. She’s soon zombified and hungry, passing on the infection to those around her.

As the swelling number of undead monsters rage through the carriages, an oddball group – Seok-woo and Soo-an, a tough guy and his heavily pregnant wife, several members of a high school baseball team and a homeless man – must band together to survive the zombie onslaught.

‘Train to Busan’. Source: Distributor

Complicating matters are other selfish passengers, including a nasty businessman who’s willing to sacrifice everyone to ensure his own safety.

Train To Busan is filled with several wonderful set-pieces – courtesy of director Yeon Sang-ho – and packed with tension and action. In particular, there’s a great scene where the train stops at Daejeon and the survivors disembark hoping to be whisked to safety by the army. They wander through an eerily deserted station only to be confronted by a bunch of zombified soldiers, forcing them to flee back to the train.

A recurring theme throughout the film involves Seok-woo’s attempts to be a better father and reconnect with his daughter under the most harrowing of circumstances. Try to watch the final five minutes without shedding a tear or two – it can’t be done.

Unlike Colossal, Train To Busan was a worldwide smash hit and acclaimed by critics. Perhaps more importantly, British filmmaker Edgar Wright

tweeted

, “Best zombie movie I’ve seen in forever.”

And if the writer/director of Shaun Of The Dead says that about your flick, then you know you’ve done well.