bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

James Marsh

1/5 stars
Korean superstar Song Joong-ki jets off on his latest international adventure in director Kim Seong-je’s exasperating Bogota: City of the Lost.
The film chronicles the transformation of an impoverished Korean immigrant into a Colombian crime lord, but is painfully devoid of both crime and drama.
The long-delayed production opened to a muted reception at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival, while its future beyond the festival seems desperately uncertain.


After jaunts in Italy (for the K-drama series Vincenzo) and Belgium (for My Name is Loh Kiwan), Song now heads for South America, butchering another foreign language in the process.
Set in the wake of the IMF crisis that ravaged the Korean economy in the late 1990s and left many ordinary citizens destitute, Bogota sees 19-year-old Kook-hee (Song) arrive in the Colombian capital with his parents looking to start afresh.
Almost immediately they are robbed of their life savings and forced to claw their way up from the proverbial gutter. Kook-hee’s father (Kim Jong-soo) looks up an old Vietnam war buddy, Sergeant Park (Kwon Hae-hyo), who has carved out a niche for himself in the garment trading industry.
Instead of hiring Kook-hee’s father, however, Park’s boss favours the fresh-faced youngster.
In no time, “Cookie”, as he is called by the locals, picks up the language and gets to grips with the black market, navigating shady deals with customs officers and other nefarious underworld types along the way.

Cookie’s ascension through the ranks of Park’s criminal empire is not looked upon favourably by everyone in the organisation, particularly Lil Park (Park Ji-hwan) and Soo-young (Lee Hee-joon), both of whom see their own course to the top threatened by the precocious youngster.
At the same time, Cookie’s father spirals into drug use and abandons his family.
The problems with Bogota are plentiful and severe. Foremost, great effort seems to have gone into shooting on location in Colombia, with the support of the Colombian Film Commission, but the film fails spectacularly in capturing the essence of this inherently exotic, sensual and dangerous environment.
The cinematography is flat, while there are almost no Colombian nor female characters to speak of, lending the endeavour a painfully neutered and inert sensibility.
Kook-hee is a vapid shell of a protagonist, earning neither sympathy nor disdain from the audience during his despotic rise, while the only other memorable character is his rival, Soo-young, mostly because he sports a moustache.


Perhaps most unbelievably of all, Bogota attempts to tell a crime saga set in Colombia without dealing in narcotics.
The childish “drugs are bad” messaging is as naive as it is clumsy, but serves as a fitting metaphor for this entire venture: eager to emulate a seductive and successful formula without daring to actually get its hands dirty.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook


K-pop star Song Min-ho of Winner, actress Park Ju-hyun said to be dating; agencies silent

The 12 best Asian films of 2024 ranked, from The Last Dance to All We Imagine As Light

After Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment, 2 films that could draw South Koreans back to cinemas

Who is Lim Ji-yeon, actress best known for K-dramas The Glory and The Tale of Lady Ok?

Asian cinema: Korean films

Busan 2024 movie review – Bogota: City of the Lost starring Song Joong-ki is just abysmal

Lee Hee-joon (left) and Song Joong-ki in a still from Bogota: City of the Lost. Photo: Plus M Entertainment and Watermelon Pictures Co., Ltd

Song Joong-ki in a still from Bogota: City of the Lost (category: TBC), directed by Kim Seong-je. The Korean crime drama showed at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival. Photo: Plus M Entertainment and Watermelon Pictures

Kwon Hae-hyo (left) and Song Joong-ki in a still from Bogota: City of the Lost. Photo: Plus M Entertainment and Watermelon Pictures

Lee Hee-joon (left) and Song Joong-ki in a still from Bogota: City of the Lost. Photo: Plus M Entertainment and Watermelon Pictures

A still from Bogota: City of the Lost. Photo: Plus M Entertainment and Watermelon Pictures

Busan 2024: Uprising movie review – Gang Dong-won leads a rebellion in Netflix thriller

Gang Dong-won as Cheon-yeong in a still from Uprising. Photo: Lee Jae-hyuk/Netflix

Gang Dong-won as Cheon-yeong in a still from Netflix movie Uprising, directed by Kim Sang-man. Cha Seong-won and Park Jeong-min co-star. Photo: Netflix

Park Jeong-min as royal military adviser Lee Jong-ryeo in a still from Uprising. Photo: Lee Jae-hyuk/Netflix

Cha Seung-won as King Seonjo in a still from Uprising. Photo: Lee Jae-hyuk/Netflix

Netflix movie review: Officer Black Belt – Kim Woo-bin stars in entertaining action comedy

Kim Woo-bin in a still from Officer Black Belt. Photo: Soyun Jeon/Seowoo Jung/Netflix

Kim Woo-bin as fun-loving martial artist Lee Jung-do in a still from Officer Black Belt, a new Netflix action comedy from director Jason Kim. Photo: Soyun Jeon/Seowoo Jung/Netflix

Kim Woo-bin (left) as martial artist Lee Jung-do and Kim Sung-kyun as senior probation officer Kim Sun-min in a still from Officer Black Belt. Photo: Soyun Jeon/Seowoo Jung/Netflix

Pilot movie review: Korean cross-dressing airline comedy takes on gender imbalance

Jo Jung-suk in a still from Pilot.

Jo Jung-suk in a still from Pilot (category IIA, Korean), directed by Kim Han-gyul. Lee Joo-myoung co-stars.

Han Sun-hwa in a still from Pilot.

Lee Joo-myoung in a still from Pilot.

Mission: Cross movie review – Hwang Jung-min, Yum Jung-ah play couple in Netflix spy caper

Hwang Jung-min (left) and Yum Jung-ah in a still from Mission: Cross. Photo: Netflix

Yum Jung-ah (left) as a detective and Hwang Jung-min as her husband and former special forces operative in a still from Mission: Cross, directed by  Lee Myung-hoon. Photo: Netflix

Yum Jung-ah as detective Mi-seon (left) and Hwang Jung-min as her husband and former special forces operative Kang-mu in a still from Mission: Cross. Photo: Netflix

K-drama Queen Woo Part II review: Jeon Jung-seo-led period drama switches to action

Jeon Jong-seo in the title role in a still from Queen Woo Part II.

Jeon Jong-seo in the title role in a still from Queen Woo Part II, a period Korean drama series.

Ji Chang-wook as the king in a still from Queen Woo.

Jeon Jong-seo in the title role in a still from Queen Woo.

Jeon Jong-seo in a still from Queen Woo.

Lifestyle

K-Pop

K-movies

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Song Joong-ki stars as an immigrant who becomes a Colombian crime lord in Korean movie Bogota: City of the Lost, a one-star waste of time


Song Joong-ki stars as an immigrant who becomes a Colombian crime lord in Korean movie Bogota: City of the Lost, a one-star waste of time.


Asian cinema

Film reviews

Cinema

What's hot in Korea

South Korean celebrities

Fame and celebrity

Song Joong-ki

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

Review | Busan 2024 movie review – Bogota: City of the Lost starring Song Joong-ki is just abysmal

Song Joong-ki stars as an immigrant who becomes a Colombian crime lord in Korean movie Bogota: City of the Lost, a one-star waste of time