A foreign movie sometimes struggles for success in many English speaking nations, namely due to the subtitles or cultural references, however when a filmmaker makes a quality piece of art, it will transcend those barriers as did Train to Busan, the simply look at the box office take proves its worth becoming the first film in South Korea to earn over $1-million and grossing over $87-million at the worldwide box office, clear to see the impact of the movie. Sang-ho Yeon made an animation film entitled Seoul Station (2016) which is the prequel to Train to Busan, that includes events happening one-day prior to the beginning of this movie. It is without a doubt very difficult to create a fresh look for the zombie apocalypse, but the film shows more than just vicious zombie attacks, but moral battles with other humans and within oneself. Yeon wrote the screenplay along with Joo-Suk Park, centering the story on a train heading from Seoul to (yep you guess it ) Busan, a trip that could normally take over 3-hours as its 201-miles apart, plenty of time to show sheer chaos. The well-known distribution company Well Go USA Entertainment assisted in getting the film to a much wider market and now this the remains of this flick are in most zombie fans top 10 lists.
There’s quite of bit human drama occurring throughout the storyline it primary focuses on one key dynamic and that person is whom the audience quickly champions for becomes very clear, and hence the filmmakers knew and swirl the conflicts around them. Therefore, I shall paint in broad brushstrokes to inform you of the film’s plot, a workaholic investment banking divorcee Seok-Woo (Yoo Gong) trying to bond with his distant daughter, Soo-an (Su-an Kim) over her birthday, aboard a train to eventually meet his ex-wife to celebrate Soo-an’s birthday. At a certain age most children know to read the masks and emotions of their parents, no difference, a key point, the script gives the characters depth and treats the audience with respect. As the outbreak starts the battle lines drawn and the moral dilemmas start mounting, Seok finds redemption, helping others and his daughter, a hilarious scene occurs to break the tension, with Sang-hwa (Dong-seok Ma) makes one think of Dwayene Johnson. Meanwhile cruelty comes from another human, older businessman CEO Yong-guk (Eui-sung Kim), shows his true self, he does his best to leave others behind, he lies about the status of others and whether they are infected, and becomes the individual most hated the most, and his survival through several attacks of zombies irks the viewers constantly. There are plenty of creative shots, escaping methods that engage scenes and these zombies created from a chemical leak present unthinking, but more of natural rabid feeding frenzy reactions to sound, than sight. They appear slightly like those of World War Z (2013) but the baseline to story compels the entertainment for nearly 2-hours.
A key aspect of the story, comes from Seok’s character arc, stretching from aloof and absent of his fatherhood to become self-sacrificing for the greater good of all morality and provider for his daughter. Yeon focuses less on the zombies and gore, but more on the emotional scenes, which drives the story forward, not affecting the pacing. Some likely mentioning that the film intense visual, i.e. gut-munching which might turn-off the gore hounds with a mixture of CGI and practical not as perfect of that of American special effects teams or artists but no serious detriment to the flick either.
As is very common with many zombie flicks there’s the question of what would you do, or how to handle the situation this movie is no different, but when it’s asked of the characters some respond positive and others negative, though perhaps it’s actually opposite, if one has no family would they be more selfish well it’s all here for you to either root for or cringe. Overall the film delivers for 120-minutes of entertainment, complete with violence and bloodshed worthy for horror fans.
TAGLINES:
- Life-or-death survival begins
- Escape from the zombies! Get on board to stay alive!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5700672/
IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
Baron’s Rating: 7.5/10