Rampant | 2018
The 2018 South Korean film Rampant is a fusion of zombie and historical drama. The film begins with a soldier from the Joseon era’s Training Division being bitten by a foreign yeogwi (a type of zombie) after picking up an item that fell off a foreign ship. The next day, he exhibits strange behavior, and soon after, he attacks his wife and child, ultimately transforming into a yeogwi and attacking the people of the village, creating chaos in the area around Jemulpo.
Park Hyun (played by Kim Min-seok), a warrior from the Training Division, goes aboard a foreign ship to engage in a firearm deal. There, he finds a man locked in a cage and learns that the captain of the ship wants him dead. Upon returning to Joseon, Park Hyun reports that the foreign ship is docked near Yeongjongdo, but soon, the subordinates of the Minister of War, Kim Ja-jun (played by Jang Dong-gun), raid and arrest them. The Minister accuses them of treason for secretly dealing with firearms and gunpowder with foreigners.
Minister Kim Ja-jun informs the king that they are plotting to betray Joseon, and the king agrees to condemn them as traitors. Meanwhile, the crown prince, Lee Yeong (played by Kim Tae-woo), writes a letter to his brother, Prince Ganglim, who is in China, telling him to intervene. The crown prince also faces Kim Ja-jun’s accusations and eventually kills himself, declaring that his actions were to save Joseon from Qing influence.
Prince Ganglim (played by Hyun Bin) returns to Joseon from China and discovers that the area has been devastated by yeogwi attacks. He, along with his ally, Haksu (played by Jeong Man-sik), tries to make his way to the palace, but the village is overrun with chaos. Kim Ja-jun informs the king that the plague in Jemulpo is under control and prepares for Prince Ganglim’s return, but the king remains suspicious of his motives.
The movie unfolds with a series of battles between Prince Ganglim and the yeogwi, leading to a final confrontation between him and Kim Ja-jun. Ultimately, Prince Ganglim defeats Kim Ja-jun, who becomes infected and tries to seize the throne. The film ends with Prince Ganglim leading an army to the village, promising to defeat the yeogwi and restore peace.
While the film retains exciting action and martial arts elements, it suffers from plot inconsistencies and overused melodrama, resulting in poor reception and underperformance at the box office. It was criticized for failing to create a believable zombie outbreak scenario and for unnecessary comic relief, particularly from the character Haksu, which detracted from the overall story.
