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Sneezing its way from South Korea, Kim Sung-su’s thriller would like to be the Asian answer to Contagion .
Instead, it comes off like a more bunged-up version of Outbreak , as a killer strain of H5N1 spreads and a city goes on lockdown.
Director Sung-su captures the carnage – notably a mountain of polythene-wrapped dead bodies – with some skill.
However, as led by Jang Hyuk’s cocksure rescuer, the emotional impact is strictly cut-price, with the less said about the English-speaking roles in a wretched political subplot the better.
The result? Not so much World War Z as World War Zzzz.
James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on 12DOVE and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood.

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