PROJECT SILENCE: Who Let The Dogs Out?

PROJECT SILENCE (Blu-ray)

2023 / 96 min

From Capelight/Dark Sky Films

Review by Princess Pepper😺

Another hybrid genre film, South Korea’s Project Silence combines elements of disaster, science-fiction and killer critters for a crazy concoction that’s both thrilling and funny, providing you’re open to what it throws at you. 

The government has been experimenting with a batch of dogs, implanting them with chips so they can be programmed to attack whatever target they choose. When the project is abandoned, the dogs are transported in an armored truck to be destroyed. But when there’s a massive multi-car pile-up on a highway bridge, the dogs get loose, led by Echo 9 (E9), the pack’s ‘mother’ since the other dogs were cloned from her. Doctor Yang (Kim Hee-win), the scientist in charge, tries to reign them in, but loses the laptop he uses to control them.

With the bridge threatening to collapse, hundreds of motorists are trapped, including Cha Jung-won (Lee Sun-Kyun, RIP) and his estranged daughter. He’s the chief aide to a presidential hopeful and, for most of the film, kind of a dick. The incident would apparently threaten his boss's election chances, so Che spends a lot of the time on the radio trying to cover it up…even as the dogs are killing people left and right. True to disaster movie tradition, there are subplots featuring secondary characters, the most amusing being opportunistic tow-truck driver Joe Park (Ju Ji-hoon, who steals the every scene he’s in).

Not having exact change can sometimes be tragic.

It’s a ridiculous premise, but I suspect director/co-writer Kim Tae-con knew that long before we come to the same conclusion. When done right, throwing caution to the wind can yield great results. As such, Project Silence is goofy good time in the vein of 2022’s Project Wolf Hunting (though not nearly as gory). Wildly plotted, these dogs certainly have their day, displaying agility, intelligence and indestructibility that only CGI pooches are capable of. Still, the narrative does manage to render E9 somewhat sympathetic. The same can be said for Chu, who eventually emerges from his douchebaggery once he learns the particulars of the experiment.

None of Project Silence comes across as remotely plausible, but it’s one of those genre mash-ups that’s more fun to play along with than scrutinize. Both intentionally and unintentionally humorous, it’s a fast-paced film that boasts wild action scenes, engaging characters and good overall performances.