Zombie films as a subgenre are relatively new to the people of South Korea. While zombies have been a part of United States cinema for the better part of its existence, they were just not a notable part of the Korean culture until more recent times. They may have been slow to catch on to the trend, but they made up for it in pure fervor with the release of the international sensation Train to Busan in 2016. Audiences in South Korea and the rest of the world flocked to the thrilling tale that succeeded in blending unhinged zombie carnage with a personal story of a man learning to be a good father to his precious daughter. The film also offered up a healthy amount of social commentary regarding class warfare that allowed it to appeal to the more artistically-driven crowd. When you have an international hit such as Train to Busan on your hands, the inclination is to capitalize on the popularity and continue the story. Rather than continue to follow the few survivors left from the original film, director Yeon Sang-ho has opted to broaden the scope of the Train to Busan universe. With his follow-up Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula, the scale of the film gets much bigger but less effective overall.
The first Train to Busan film took place 80% on a train as the zombie apocalypse spread through South Korea. In Peninsula, we begin by returning to these early days as we follow Marine Captain Jung-Seok (Gang Dong-won) trying to evacuate his sister and her family out of Korea. The world is crumbling and people are frightened by the idea that anyone they meet could be infected. Everyone is looking out for themselves, and even Jung-Seok has to make the tough decision not to rescue a couple and their young children as they pass them on the way to a ship out of the country. Although they make it to the ship, tragedy strikes on the journey which leads to Korea being quarantined and left to devolve into a zombie wasteland. Fast forward four years and we find a guilt-ridden Jung-Seok living in Hong Kong with only his brother in law Chul-min (Kim Do-yoon) tying him to his old life. Refugees from Korea are looked down upon with fear and derision by the rest of the world, which leads to many of them living in poverty. The two are recruited along with two others by Chinese mobsters to return to the quarantined Korean peninsula to retrieve an abandoned truck filled with millions of US dollars.
As was established in the first film, the zombies in this universe are incredibly fast moving but are mostly engaged through what they can see. Through the cover of night, these four individuals embark on what they hope to be a quick in-and-out mission that quickly falls apart when survivors on the peninsula enter the picture. On one end of the spectrum we have rogue militia Unit 631, led by Sergeant Hwang (Kim Min-jae), who have devolved into a Mad Max-esque gang who have given up all hope of rescue. On the other end is where the film attempts to replicate the emotional journey from the first film between the protagonist and his daughter. When Jung-Seok has a close call with death, he is rescued by two adorable sisters, Joon (Lee Re) and her younger sister Yu-Jin (Lee Ye-won), and taken back to their hideout where they live with their grandfather (Kwon Hae-hyo) and mother, Min-jung (Lee Jung-hyun). Jung-Seok is horrified to recognize Min-jung as the woman he refused to help four years earlier, which spurs him to do everything in his power to get them out of Korea. The film devolves into a race between this family and the militia to get the truck of money and secure their passage out of the country.
The first film was incredibly effective in the way it used its contained setting to create palpable tension. It felt somewhat fresh compared to many films in the genre. Peninsula goes the opposite way with things as the scale could not be more broad. The movie is filled with epic car chases and shootouts, but it all becomes mind numbing after a while. This new film also goes way overboard on the CGI this time around, to the point where you feel like 50% of the film is basically a video game cut scene. If you are going to make your movie bigger, give me real stunts with detailed production design and at least some convincing zombie extras. Watching a CGI car plow through CGI zombies in a CGI city landscape just feels unnecessary. I also took issue with the blatant attempt to make the film more marketable to an international audience. There is absolutely no reason for these Chinese and Korean people to be slipping into English when they are not around native English speakers. It feels like the film is pandering to English speakers, but most of the film is still in Korean so it does not really help those who hate subtitles. There are some enjoyable moments in the film, though. The emotional elements between Jung-Seok and the family work pretty well, and are easily the best part of the story. His arc is predictable, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. There are also some inventive zombie kills that conjure up an innate giddiness. Overall, though, the film just seems to be an unnecessarily epic expansion to a franchise that should have kept things more grounded in the personal.
Video Quality
The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula offers a pleasing uptick in quality over the already strong accompanying Blu-Ray. The film has a very stylized digital look and primarily takes place at night with loads of CGI environments, and this transfer honors the artistic intent to the best of its ability. The improvement in the black levels are strong in this presentation, but it fails to be as deep and inky as some stronger 4K discs I have seen. When compared to Blu-Ray, the 4K version allows for more depth, clarity and stability to the image. The image is as gorgeous as the source material will allow, but it does not make the at-times shoddy CGI any stronger. The film succeeds the most when it is in a stable environment instead of panning in and out of CGI cars during extended chase scenes. The highlights are balanced with no instances of blooming to be found. The High Dynamic Range is put to good use during instances where the militia is using bright light cannons as a tool to draw out the zombies. There are also some brilliant instances of color from the foliage at the beginning of the film. Facial details are strong and natural among all of the cast members. This film is not a beautiful film, but the presentation brings the apocalyptic world to life in a substantial manner.
Audio Quality
The 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc comes with a lively Dolby Atmos presentation in the original Korean that handles the action incredibly well. The track offers expert level immersion into the environment so that even the subtlest elements are represented. The Atmos presentation takes full advantage of the expanded channel allotment. Directionality of sound is never an issue with this track, and dialogue is reproduced with supreme clarity. All of the sounds are balanced well during the action sequences from hand-to-hand combat to copious amounts of gunfire. The many chase scenes and other such kinetic moments provide a fantastic amount of activity in the low end. Speakers are subjected to a full-on sonic throttling throughout the duration of the presentation while providing a fully realized world to sink into. The audio presentation is just as impressive as the visual one. Optional English subtitles are provided.
Special Features
- Making Of and Interviews: Four short featurettes totaling eight minutes are provided here including “The Sequel”, “The Action”, “The Director” and “The Characters.” These briefly delve into the training that went into the action of the film, new challenges in the film, the directorial style of Yeon Sang-ho and more.
- Teaser Trailer: This minute-and-a-half trailer gives you a nice glimpse at the state of the world four years after the events of Train to Busan.
- Theatrical Trailer: A two-minute trailer that gets into more of the plot elements of the film which establishes the stakes.
Final Thoughts
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula is very much a different animal from its predecessor. Instead of going for more subtle, tension-filled sequences, this newest entry offers up a full-on assault of the senses with loads of kills and chase scenes. This is often quite exciting, but it can become a bit repetitive after a while with the CGI-overload. Well Go USA Entertainment has provided the film with a 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a most excellent A/V presentation along with a couple of extras. If you are a fan of World War Z-esque zombie films, you will probably enjoy this one. If you have not seen the first film, you should also check out that incredible gem of a movie.
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Well Go USA Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
