Zombie cult classic gets a sequel...

'Train to Busan' was a hit zombie movie directed by Sang-ho Yeon in the year 2016. The film was a box office smash, earning close to 100 million USD revenue, and managing to tick all the right boxes in order to become an instant cult classic. Fans of the film may or may not know of the animated prequel film, 'Seoul Station', also directed by Sang-ho, which altered the overall tone with a slow burn approach and a greater emphasis on the cities initial outbreak as a whole. Earning only 2 million USD, this was not as well received in the box office and in my overall opinion falls short of anything much more than filler, albeit a solid 6/10. However this isn't the only followup in this series; 'Peninsula' (released in 2020) is the timed sequel to 'TTB' by San-ho and the film I'll attempt to review here today.

"A very quiet and seriously-toned build-up to the bonkers fun and barrier breakdown of Busan" - Review of 'Seoul Station' by Lewis Ryan.

'Peninsula' was shown briefly in a select few cinemas across the UK, which with the success of its predecessor was the first clue that something wasn't quite right with this sequel. I myself wasn't able to catch the movie at launch and rather waited patiently for the disc release; picking up the matching steelbook set for both 'TTB' & 'Peninsula' (images shared on Instagram profile) from Zavvi/HMV and sat down earlier this week to watch at home.

The film opens with a very awkward and brief overview summary of the events that took place during the time during 'TTB'; however, not in the native language you'd expect but instead by two poorly acted English folk, posing as chat show host and guest. Now with the first film being spoken purely in Korean and subtitled for those that don't speak it, this was another red flag in my opinion; reaffirming my suspicions that this could and would most likely just be a money grab attempt to profit off the initial movies success.

Several moments later we are introduced to Jung Seok (played by Dong-won Gang) and his immediate family, fleeing in car along a country road, towards a nearby ship cruiser hoping to escape the ever growing amount of Zombies in the streets below. On route they are approached by a family of 3 whom plead for help in fleeing along with them, even eventually suggesting they take their daughter solo if not all together. Does our guy help? Does he balls. Now this may not seem out of the ordinary as most would have driven by in panic and fear; however, we are very soon after meant to believe the same person that abandoned this helpless family to die is in fact an army Captain and someone who would flip 180 and sacrifice a loved one to save several others.

Jump ahead 4 years and we are reintroduced to Jung, now sporting slick long hair and an overall more youthful demeanor (It actually took me a good 10 minutes to even realise this was the same character) whom is approached by 'generic boss leader' and set the task of returning home, to search for a truck full of cash left behind in the panic 4 years ago. Once again however we learn of this plan not from a native speaking individual but instead from another Englishman as though we as viewers wouldn't be able to follow if left to read subtitles at the same time.

Anyway; a poorly assembled team of 4 misfits arrive at the docks of Incheon, under a very bright moonlight sky, to begin their search for said truck with only loud sounding weaponry such as non suppressed assault rifles in hand and their limited knowledge of the undead's inabilities to aid them. Now I get that the director may not have wanted audiences to struggle with darker scenes, but having characters walk around hysterically with night vision goggles announcing just how dark it was for them regardless of how bright it actually was (for us as viewers) was borderline offensive.Something the zombies are iconic for is their advanced hearing (which we are reminded of several minutes earlier thanks to a characters warning) so what better to do than to hot wire a car in hopes of smashing their way through the streets. Well they are in luck, as it seems like someone has kindly parked all the abandoned cars neatly on the side of the motorways so as to not cause any obstructions or noise. Bull****.

The film quickly takes a turn down 'lousy street'; leaning heavily into eccentric secondary characters we know, and learn, very little about and poorly written/timed jokes. This along with some pretty dreadful CGI and generic plot/character progression make the next hour or so tedious to say the least.

Several things ensued (such as a laughable 'thunderdome'-like zombie battle) but nothing really worth mentioning in any attempt to describe this film as anything other than dreadful. The bottom line is after 1 hour & 15 minutes into this 2 hr long film, I fell asleep. Bored to death. Pun intended.

So yeah, all around pretty shocking. I'm not rushing to watch the third act and I'd implore you to simply avoid the film as a whole. Ultimately this will surely be the head shot needed to kill this series and leave 'Train To Busan' in the history books (a must watch) and 'Peninsula' in the bin (hard pass)

Watch Train to Busan [English Subtitled] | Prime Video (amazon.co.uk)

Watch Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula | Prime Video (amazon.co.uk)

Reggie review - 3/10 (it has zombies in it)