Project Silence: Dogs of the Future

Anyone who thinks the massive car pileup on the airport bridge is the worst thing that's happening to them in Kim Tae-gon's Project Silence has some bad news coming their way. And it's coming on four furry legs. Because the military has been breeding CGI attack dogs who, through a series of unfortunate events, are now on the loose with a single objective: Kill! Who's in danger of getting chomped? A slimy political operative (Lee Sun-kyun) and his much more caring daughter (Kim Su-an), a professional golfer and her possibly lesbian assistant/lover (Park Hee-von), the long-haired, fire-breathing tow truck driver (Ju Ji-hoon) and his cute little pooch Jodie... Who's going to save them? Not one soldier with an armpad and a taser. And probably not the crazy scientist / mad doctor (Kim Hee-won). That seems clear.

Throw in a rescue chopper that crashes into the bridge's suspension cables, a fire that breaks out on the escape route, and a tanker full of toxic gas, and you've got all the makings of a classic disaster movie. Except the hero is a total asshole. Even when the worst happens, he's still needlessly endangering people, still thinking about how to spin a catastrophe, still pretending he's got the matter under control, even if that means lying, lying, lying. Well, he's made a career out of lying. Why would he stop now? It takes alot of horrible things to get him to reconsider the choices he's made in this life. Does that make the movie more misanthropic or more realistic? Your final assessment may rest on the choices made by one presidential candidate (Kim Tae-woo). Or not.

The Battleship Island: POW Power

Internment camps are a nightmare. In The Battleship Island, the wartime hellscape is a prison island doubling as a mining facility at which prisoners are forced to dig for coal under inhumane conditions. The best way to escape such a dire fate is to know how to play a musical instrument: So clarinetist band-leader Lee Gang-ok (Hwang Jung-min) and his prepubescent, singing-dancing daughter So-hee (Kim Su-an) have a glimmer of hope, as they entertain the enemy with a small jazz band.

Playing pop songs for your enslavers may sound like a form of torture but working underground and breathing coal dust doesn't sound any better. And there are prepubescent kids — with pickaxes and chizels — in the subterranean realm as well. Thug-turned-good-guy Choi Chil-sung (So Ji-seob) may have fought his way into a line boss job for the betterment of his countrymen but there's only so much he can do. And who needs his help more? Elder Yoon Kyung-ho (Lee Kyung-young) or comfort woman Mallyon (Lee Jung-hyun)?

Then again, maybe since this is a movie, all of these stories are going to come together for a great escape. So how's that going to happen when you're stuck on an island with no mainland in swimming distance? Teletype machines, copied keys, pornographic distractions, traded cigarettes, and sheer fortitude, that's how! Considering how often it rains and how often there are explosions on this prison-island, it's going to be tough even if things go smoothly. Then again, survival might be enough.