After two seasons of the smash-hit period Korean zombie horror, Kingdom which I reviewed a while back. We now get a movie or even a feature-length episode in Kingdom: Ashin of the north which describes the origins of the zombie virus.
Kingdom proved to be one of the best zombie horrors I’ve seen in a long while. Taking inspiration from Train to Busan. The zombies are truly terrifying. The stuff of nightmares. No slow, shuffling, dumb and growing. But fast, agile, horrible looking and nightmarish.
At first, I didn’t know Kingdom: Ashin of the north was a prequel and was expecting to see familiar characters like the crown prince. The main hero from Kingdom. It’s was only towards the end I discovered it was a prequel and how the outbreak began that’s everything clicked into place.
The movie starts by telling the story of the fierce rivalry between the Jurchen’s and Joseon’s.
Ashins people the Seongjeoyain are living in a borderline village of Joseon as they have done for decades. They are technically Jurchen’s but this causes them to be hated by the Jurchen’s, describing them as traitors. Unfortunately because of their roots, Joseon’s also shun them, treating them as 2nd class citizens. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Ashin as a child numerous times visits a hidden temple and is intrigued by the saengsacho. A flower that resurrects the dead.
Right at the start of the movie we see a deer foraging for food. It comes across the accursed zombie flower saengsacho that started the plague from the Kingdom Netflix series and of course, eats it. We see the deer die than return as a zombie deer. Roaming the woods it comes across a tiger and makes a suicidal charge. Of course, the tiger kills it for food.
Cut back to civilisation. Tensions are at a knifes edge between Joseon’s and the Jurchen’s. The Jurchen’s are a brutal people. All trained from a very young age how to fight, they will raid and destroy an entire village without remorse. Joseon’s are much more civilised, trying to keep the peace and avoid war.
When a bunch of Jurchen’s are discovered dead, massacre by a particular idiot Joseon captain who likes to go hunting. Military commander Min Chi Rok (Byeong-eun Park) decides to cover it over by saying they were killed by a tiger to keep the peace. He goes to Ashins village and persuades her dad to convince the Jurchen’s a tiger killed their men. They don’t really believe it and threaten to kill Ashins dad if he’s lying.
This makes way for a tiger hunt with Joseon’s and some Jurchen’s venturing into the woods. Of course, they are attacked and massacred by our zombie tiger. This leads to the Jurchen’s discovering that their people were killed by Joseon’s. They enact their brutal revenge. Ashins village being the first on their radar, killing everyone and leaving Ashin orphaned. She returns to her destroyed village seeing her family strung up.
Taking in by a military outpost and living in a barn, Ashin develops into an adult now played by Jun Ji-hyun. She homes her fighting skills and becomes an expert marksman with a bow.
By this point, I’m starting to wonder. I haven’t seen a proper zombie yet and it’s halfway through the movie. Things soon start to kick off. Ashin discovers why her village was attacked, her father being betrayed by Joseon’s, and she enacts her brutal revenge.
She makes her first kill and uses the flower to resurrect the dead soldier. She then watches as the zombie plague consumes the outpost. The soldiers desperately try to fight off the undead but there is no escape.
At this point, you are probably thinking Ashin is the bad guy. She brutally takes down anyone that looks like they will escape the zombies. But upon witnessing her motivations and what has happened to her and her father, you can understand.
Even so, I thought she was being a little harsh at times.
Like Kingdom, there’s not a lot of fighting and swordplay as the fast zombies are on the soldiers before they can even draw their swords.
The set designs and costumes just like Kingdom are truly amazing. Looking like a big-budget release. Amazing scenery from deep dark forest to dazzling white snowscapes. Who needs CG? Take note Hollywood.
In conclusion, Kingdom: Ashin of the north filled a much-needed hole as we wait for the 3rd season to arrive. My only gripe was a minor plot hole. In Kingdom when the doctor’s assistant was attacked and killed by the zombie king, he didn’t turn into a zombie. The zombie plague only happened when the starving villagers decided to eat the assistant’s body causing the virus to mutate and raise anyone killed by a zombie. The soldiers killed by the tiger didn’t come back even though the tiger ate the zombie deer. But the soldiers in the outpost Ashin raised with the flower, anyone they killed came back. Going against its own rules a bit but hey. Can be easily overlooked. If you loved Kingdom, then Ashin of the north is a must-watch.
Kingdom: Ashin of the north is available to view on Netflix now.
Rating 3.5/5 belts
