Train to Busan Review

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!

Plot Summary: A father must do everything he can to save his daughter when a zombie outbreak occurs while they are traveling on a train.

Review: Apparently this has been quite the success in Korea--successful enough to receive a USA release. I can definitely understand why this was such a huge hit, but I don't think I enjoyed this film to the degree of others. Sure, it's a great movie with a ton of cool concepts, however, the characters were flimsy and the plot is unoriginal and contrived. It's worth acknowledging that there is an animated prequel called "Seoul Station," but I haven't watched that; perhaps it provides more context for "Train to Busan" since the zombie outbreak is kind of sudden. Another point to consider is that, from what I can tell, the first girl that infects the train passengers was played by Eun-kyung Shim; Ms. Shim was the Gretel equivalent in "Hansel and Gretel" from 2007 (one of the best Korean movies I've watched I might add). I only bring this up because she voiced the main girl in "Seoul Station" so I guess they're the same character? It's actually disappointing that she doesn't play a main role in the film too.

What "Train to Busan" does right is it effectively makes use of that train setting. Although we've seen pretty much every kind of creature fight it out on trains at this point, I think this was one of the best set designs to date. Likewise, the way the characters fight their way through the individual cars, or even at the stations, is fun to see and gets your blood pumping as a viewer; the one tough guy in particular was amusing to see beating up zombies. The action and pacing are both solid in presentation despite the clear inspirations from "World War Z's" style and cinematography. While most of the characters were not compelling whatsoever, I do want to separately acknowledge that tough guy, his pregnant wife, and the daughter...I did not want them to die and that's saying something. In particular, they handled the daughter exceptionally well since usually little kids in these types of movies are soooo fucking annoying. Finally, the effects were pretty good given that they didn't have hundreds of millions of dollars to blow like Hollywood would have on the budget.

As for my grievances...the story is nothing to write home about. It's just the same zombie outbreak we've seen for the millionth time except with a train. I also have never liked this notion of fast zombies or the inconsistent pattern of turning into one based on how important your character was; this is a painful contrivance in most zombie films. Now, what could have made me ignore the cliched nature of the story would have been the characters, but they're mostly one-dimensional with little backstory. For example, what is up with the baseball player and that ex-member of Wonder Girls? Were they fighting, breaking up, what? Likewise, I love how contrived that asshole guy was that gets everyone killed. He is seriously throwing people to the zombies as a distraction rather than simply shutting a door? It's like they really wanted a villain for the audience to get mad at. Another thing that bothered me--that many critics were not bothered by--was some serious overacting from a couple zombie extras. My goodness! There were many times I was laughing at their shenanigans. By the way, how were the zombies able to climb, jump, and do other activities that would require situational brain functions yet are unable to push a door open? Finally, the ending is disappointing. The dad dying was contrived as fuck to give the film a deliberate, emotional resolution when it actually would have been less cliche if he lived. Plus, the further contrivance of the daughter singing so the soldiers know she's not a zombie was nonsensical. This girl knows that the zombies are attracted to sound, and she's walking through a dark tunnel...why on earth would she be singing?!

I hate to make it sound like I'm ragging on this film, because it is really good; I admit I am being overly critical. In fact, I'd fully recommend anyone to check this movie out whether or not you're into K-horror since this is mostly an action movie anyway. The running time is close to two hours, but you will not feel that one bit. While I may not have felt an emotional investment with most of the characters, I did have the few to root for, and I'd imagine others becoming fully invested with the plight of the passengers. There are only a handful of problems from a technical standpoint, which is good, but contrivances are a huge and persistent issue with the story. Ignoring a few contrivances merely comes with the territory, but when crucial moments, including the ending itself, rely heavily on contrivances that is not proper storytelling. Okay, last thing...if you aren't as nitpicky as I am, you will certainly be fully engaged and entertained with this strong entry from Korea so seek it out; you might have the added side effect of recovering from zombie fatigue.

Notable Moment: When the dad dies pointlessly. The level of contrivances to kill him off--just to have that "emotional" ending--are off the charts and it was too forced. You're like, "what the fuck, dude?!" Why would anyone grab a zombie by the mouth?! And why didn't this guy just throw the zombie overboard? Come on, son!

Final Rating: 6.5/10