Streaming Services: Shudder
Movie Name/Year: Train to Busan Presents:
Peninsula (2020)
Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller
Length: 116 minutes
Rating: NR
Production/Distribution: Next Entertainment World, RedPeter
Film, Golden Village Pictures, Clover Films, Well Go USA Entertainment, BfParis,
ARP Sélection, StudioCanal UK, GAGA, A Contracorriente Films, BestFilm.eu, Gravel
Road Distribution Group, Kross Pictures, Shudder, Splendid Film, The Filmbridge
Director: Sang-ho Yeon
Writer: Sang-ho Yeon, Ryu Yong-jae
Actors: Dong-won Gang, Lee Jung-hyun, Re Lee, Hae-hyo Kwon, Min-jae
Kim, Kyo-hwan Koo, Do-yoon Kim, Ye-Won Lee, Jang So-Yeon, Moon Woo-Jin
Blurb from IMDb: A zombie virus has in the
last 4 years spread to all South Korea. 4 Koreans in HK sail thru the blockade
to Incheon for USD20,000,000 on a truck.
Selina’s Point of View:
If you’ve been
following for a while, then you know how I feel about zombie flicks. They’re my
go-to guilty pleasure. I will watch any of them regardless of how original they
are, the quality, or the country they’re produced in. That’s just the way it
is.
That means that I’ve
seen more zombie films than the average movie goer – maybe even more than the
average reviewer… since I also seek them out in my free time.
Train to Busan
(2016) is still one of the best, if not the absolute best, zombie movie I’ve
ever seen. Hell, it’s part of what introduced me to Korean cinema and inspired
me to start learning the language.
Rest assured, if
there is a flick that comes out that is even minorly tied to
Train to Busan,
I’m going to watch it.
Train
to Busan Presents: Peninsula caught my attention immediately when we came
across the trailer. Not just because of its ties to the original, either.
The trailer was
outstanding. The way it was presented made it feel like the movie would be a
non-stop, pulse-pounding, action film. It took the lore and brought it into the
future, showing us what came next.
I was surprised when I saw the reviews were mixed when they started coming out, but now I get it.
I won’t say that
the trailer lied. However, it was cut in a way that made me expect something different.
I think that was the case with most people who saw it.
The coming
attractions made it seem like Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula was
going to be a zombie horror version of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). That
was not what it was.
Most of the
driving shots in the trailer came from the same scene. They were cool, and I
enjoyed watching them, but Mad Max it wasn’t.
This is the
problem with misrepresenting a film in the trailer. Train to Busan Presents:
Peninsula was good… but it attracted an audience looking for a different
flick. It’s that simple.
Instead of
leaning hard into the action aspects, it followed down the emotional path that
the original Train to Busan took. As much as it was about the setting
and the zombies, it was equally about the human factor and how the characters
related to each other. There was plenty of action, but it wasn’t non-stop the
way it was advertised. It was broken up by plot that involved basic humanity.
There was also a
part in the beginning that went into the Asian racism that’s been a huge
problem as of late.
You see the way
refugees from Korea are treated, as though they were responsible for the zombie
virus. Many people might have decided that was more political than it actually
is – which could have affected the score.
I’m going to
digress and say something real quick.
It’s not
political. It’s humanity. It’s the lack of compassion we see now, with people
calling Covid a “Chinese virus”. If you are one of those people, you’re not making
a political statement. You are showing your true, highly racist, opinion of an
entire group of people. Covid affected the whole world. Even if it originated
in China, it still killed just as many people there as it did everywhere else. The
lack of compassion, the lack of reasonable thought, that goes into blaming the
entirety of Asian countries for something that affected the whole world… is
insane.
This movie shows
a little bit of that insanity – and I’m glad it did, because it’s something
people should see. Maybe seeing the way it translates to screen will show
people how absolutely idiotic these racist views are.
Moving on.
I’ll admit that
Train
to Busan Presents: Peninsula was a lot more predictable than its
predecessor. I predicted the ending, almost to the second. There was a bit more
of a recipe feel to many of the other scenes, as well. I still think this was a
decent zombie film.
Do I think it met
the standards of
Train to Busan? No. However, I think very few flicks
ever could.
I enjoyed
watching it, and that’s how I’m going to judge it. Not against what came first,
but in general.
I will probably
watch it again.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 54%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 76%
Metascore – 51/100
Metacritic User Score – 5.1/10
IMDB Score – 5.5/10
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3.5/5
Trust-the-Dice’s
Parental Advisory Rating:
R
Movie Trailer:
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