Train To Busan Movie Review

Train to Busan (2016) 

Fans of zombies and Korean movies and dramas brace yourselves, because this one will take you on a nonstop action trip, and the only luggage acceptable is a baseball bat and a bucket. In other words: MY kind of movie! Seriously, this is not your typical zombie movie -well the basics are there: zombies, but- Train to Busan will give you chills in many and unexpected ways; something Hollywood zombie films have failed to do in my opinion. At least for me, this film gave a new feel to the genre all together, and I am assuming it’s because it was not MADE IN THE USA -no pun intended.

Train to Busan is a story about a group of individuals heading to Busan on the KTX at the Seoul Station. Yet, they are unaware of an infected passenger and of the hell that the outside world has turned into. A simple business and family trip has turned into a fight for survival.

I’m going to start off with the fact that it was full of great suspense rather than the regular scary feel. As I mention, it is action full throttle: from beginning to end, so the space for being scared is reduced a bit. Not that it was not scary, but rather the focus is different -let’s be honest, every serious zombie movie is bound to be scary, so it’s the writer’s decision on what to do around it. The conflict is simple, yet cleverly executed. I guess the writer was like “huh! How can I make a group of people fight to survive a zombie apocalypse story interesting?” and someone went “I don’t know. Throw them in a train?!” BOOM! Instant hit. A train is very limited people! You can only go forward of backwards inside, and unless you have the power of invisibility there is nowhere to hide. Or should I say limited space to hide? Because the way the writer and director made it appear got me on my toes throughout the film. And although suspenseful, the movie was pretty emotional, hence the bucket. One of the reasons why this film gave me a different feel. Who cries watching zombie movies??? In a short amount of time, because I will admit the movie is short, it managed to make me care for the characters and feel for them; no background story needed.

When you watch zombie movies you expect characters to die. Secondary characters that is! When one of the main characters die early, you know no character is safe. I will say that I kept fighting Gong Yoo’s straight face/emotion throughout the movie, but then I realized it was his character, so BRAVO! for him. The change of his character was very believable. Like no one can change who he or she is in one day, but you can see when someone has been touched by another, which was Seok Woo (Gong Yoo)’s case. Part of this change is due to his daughter Soo An (Kim Soo Ahn) and Sang Hwa (Ma Dong Seok). Also, props to Kim Eui Sung for his excellent job at being a jerk and annoying every part of my soul. His character MAY reflect how people MAY selfishly act under fear, but 75% of it was his jerkiness in action. There were many memorable scenes in this movie, but I suggest avoiding getting attached to a character, because just when you start doing so, and you start hoping they live, they die.

The emotional effect is not only due to the great action, but also to the cinematographic elements behind camera. The fact the set is a moving train limits the flexibility of the characters’ movements, yet it opens doors to creativity and one or two laughs of disbelief. ADVICE: watch special features and behind the scenes footage after the movie, so no magic is spoiled. I’m very keen to finding bloopers in movies but everything, from special effects, both makeup and costume, and the set was to a T: on point. This also includes the zombie’s movements. It was unbelievably creepy and good watching those bodies twisting. Again, and I don’t think I will get tired of saying this but, it was different from the typical running-towards-the-food zombie. I’m not saying the whole movie is original, but it has its surprises and its balance.

Lastly, I understood the end, but did not find it fair. I will not spoil how or why, but I believe there were other ways to stop or kill the zombie. Then again, if it had had the “American” ending anyone would expect, I guess I would have been disappointed. With this, I 100% recommend this movie to anyone and it has inserted itself to my Halloween Classic Movie List. Now, make sure that when you get into the train, you successfully locate all your exits. Bye!

My rating for this movie is: ♥♥♥