Project Wolf Hunting (2022) – Review

Quick Thoughts – Grade – B – If you’re in the mood for blood geysers, blood explosions, and exploding blood geysers, it doesn’t get any better than Project Wolf Hunting. There are too many characters (or not enough?). The action isn’t staged particularly well (or are they staged brilliantly?), and the convoluted plot involves a boat, some criminals, a few cops, a deadly monster, a shadowy governmental agency, and many flashbacks. However, none of this matters because director Kim Hong-Sun is only interested in showing the world what happens when a tough-as-nails cop bites the arm off of a super soldier. Project Wolf Hunting is an exercise in practical effects that show what happens when a head meets a blunt object, or how far blood sprays when a knife meets a neck. 

During a recording of Con Air – The Podcast, movie critic Courtney Smalls told us about Project Wolf Hunting. He suggested it because he considers it to be a solid Con Air-adjacent film that tells the story of cops and criminals battling each other inside a boat that’s headed for Busan, South Korea. It was a great suggestion, as the movie plays like Con Air met Primal, and then teamed up with Mandy to form a supergroup of movies that also occasionally allow Face/Off and Drive Angry to hang out and jam. The best way to experience the movie is to ignore the trailer (and the rest of this review) and watch it knowing as little as possible about what transpires. 

For the sake of the review, it’s safe to say that the movie is about what happens when a group of criminals start battling a group of cops inside a large boat headed for South Korea. Normally, this would be enough to carry a film. However, once they start killing each other, they are forced to start brawling with a deadly super soldier named Alpha (Alpha (Choi Gwi-hwa), who even with stapled shut eyes finds a way to destroy folks. From there, it becomes an absolute free for all as everyone gets separated and eventually obliterated in creative ways. 

In an interview with Screenrant, director Kim Hong-Sun unleashed this gem of a quote: “We created new blood pumps, and my intention was to do something as real or even more real than what Tarantino does. As you know, blood does not just seep out. If you cut an artery, it might pump out. That’s what I wanted, so I’m happy. I understand that some of my audience is not so happy, but fortunately, I am happy.” If you’re an action lover who enjoys blood spray, this movie was tailored for your tastes. The blood is thick and heavy and so are the action scenes that feature people dying in kitchens, hallways, elevators, control rooms, maintenance closets, mechanical rooms, regular rooms, and everywhere else possible you could find yourself on a ship.

The cast is extremely game, and their selflessness should be applauded as their characters deliver approximately zero offense when attacked. The standouts are Seo In-Guk, Choi Gwi-hwa, Jang Dong-Yoon and Jang Young-Nam, who are all given moments to shine before their faces look like lasagna that’s been dropped off a skyscraper and landed on the sidewalk. The true MVP’s are the special effects crew, makeup designers, and sound designers who must’ve been exhausted during and after the shoot as they had to unleash hundreds of gallons of blood and create about 7,000 squishy noises. 

Final thoughts – Many people die, that’s the point. If you like creative special effects, and people being killed when they are bludgeoned with another person’s arm, you will love this movie. Watch it!