Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the motion picture ‘Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula’.
​
For the most part, zombie stories tend to stick to a specific formula. In that, they are quick to show the audience how quickly the world can fall apart when the dead return to life and attack the living, and it is understandable as to why they stay within that particular storytelling parameter. Simply because, showing us the end of the world allows for maximum potential storytelling wise. For the chaos that the dead bring to the table, can inspire all kinds of action and adventure and drama and terror, and of course… commentary on our current world and our societal problems. Since that is a staple of this horror sub-genre as well. 
​
But while it is always entertaining to be plunged into a world of chaos and splatter, one where the dead eventually rule the day, we are often left to wonder at the end of these films… what comes next? Does humanity ever find its way back from the brink? And if so, what does that new world look like? But for some reason, a vast majority of filmmakers and storytellers stay away from answering those questions, possibly out of fear of offering up a tale that doesn’t hold a flame to the powerhouse original in the slightest. But from to time, you run into stories that have no problem showing us the aftermath of the end at the hands of the dead and it just so happens, that Shudder is now host to a zombie themed horror film, that shows us the aftermath of a zombiepocalpyse in Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula.

Now in this particular film, we are introduced to a soldier named Jung Seok, who managed to survive the events of Train to Busan, but at a great cost. For this disgraced South Korean solider, watched his sister and nephew fall prey to the dead during their harrowing escape and four years after that nightmare… he’s simply adrift. In fact, he and his brother-in-law are just living minute to minute on the streets of Hong Kong and do favors for organized crime in this city in order to eat a meal. But one day, when both men find themselves at their lowest, they are offered the opportunity of a lifetime by the mob. In that, if they return to South Korea and brave the hordes of the dead to retrieve a truck filled with twenty-million dollars, they and their crew will be treated to half of the bounty. Which is of course, an opportunity they cannot pass up, and they agree to return home one last time… in order to strike it rich and find some kind of closure in regard to the life they left behind. 

---

Which is a plot that initially makes it seem as though this movie is only going to focus upon overcoming one's past. But thanks to a bevy of surprises along the way, and some wonderful follow up from some seemingly minor moments early on in this story, this plot finds a way to help the characters work through their pain whilst showing us the aftermath of a zombie surge. Since we come to learn that the world moved on and was able to isolate a further outbreak, but treats those who survived the nightmare on the peninsula as outcasts and strangers, the kind who deserve distance. An act that offers up some subtle commentary on how immigrants are viewed in the modern world, adding some genuine depth to this story as well.

But truly where this motion picture shines, is when it shows us how life has continued along in the cities of South Korea, four years after the end and well… this is where the real terror in this movie is generated. For we are privy to a world where the rules no longer apply and that’s given life to a horrible new existence for the survivors of this event. One where mankind is hanging on by a thread and has no qualms with imparting cruelty upon one another in order to find some semblance of joy. As evidenced by the harrowing games that are on display in the broken oasis that former soldiers use for shelter, and that reveal and the way they live, makes this a supremely bleak film for certain. Thanks to its quality exploration of how prolonged disaster can indeed wear down our psyche and break us in ways we never thought possible.

However, while all of these elements are fascinating for certain, and engage the viewer from beginning to end, make no mistake about it… this is a zombie film through and through. One that brings the terror when the dead are on the screen, thanks to the fact that South Korea is filled to the brim with lethal and starving corpses and the movie really does do a fine job of utilizing the dead perfectly in this story to bring about the scares and really in the end, all of these elements make this a quality zombie film for certain. One that gives fans of this sub-genre everything they love since there are plenty of hungry gooey walking corpses, including some new iterations of them, thanks to the madness of man. Plus, there’s plenty of smart commentary and character development in this tale. So, if you’re looking for a solid zombie flick that takes the viewer into the aftermath of the end in an intelligent and compelling manner, then swing by Shudder and give this one a look.  

---