The last zombie movie I remember seeing advertised in theaters was WORLD WAR Z back in 2013 and a PG-13 zombie film at that. But seriously, The Walking Dead is satisfying the populace's need for zombies better than we ever could've hoped. I do enjoy that show. But every now and then the world sneaks a new zombie movie into the theaters. I became aware of this movie after reading lists on the internet titled "The Best Movies of 2016 That You Missed." TRAIN TO BUSAN, a South Korean horror film, kept popping up. Discovering it was a zombie horror movie meant I had to see it. And now having seen it I can say...
Train To Busan is one the best zombie movies I have seen in years.
THE PLOT
Seok-woo is a divorced, high profile corporate executive living in the city. He gained custody of his daughter in the divorce but has been too busy with work to pay any attention to her. Coming home from work one night he overhears his daughter on the phone with his ex-wife. His daughter begs him to take her on the train to Busan so she can see her mother. The next day Seok-woo and his daughter board the train. A strange person sneaks aboard as well. Seok sees smoke on the horizon, dozens of police cars speed down the highway. As they're riding towards Busan he notices a commotion in one of the rear train cars, a rabid looking person biting and clawing screaming passengers, blood spraying everywhere. Then the television shows an outbreak of rabid people spreading across the country. Seok grabs his daughter as a horde of rabid passengers rush their way.
WHAT I LIKED
A Simple Zombie Film. Train To Busan is a straight forward zombie flick. It is executed flawlessly and is incredibly entertaining. There is nothing especially gimmicky about this film other than zombies on a bullet train. It doesn't reinvent the genre. What it does is present you with a simple plot and let's the events develop naturally from there. The characters are presented with one life-threatening situation after another and we are left to see how they escape... or don't escape. Again, nothing revolutionary about this, but it is so well done. It reminds viewers of how exciting a good zombie movie can be. And in a world where The Walking Dead is still incredibly good, what Train to Busan achieves is nothing sort of amazing. The credit for this should go to director Sang-ho Yeon and his crew. Well done.
The Characters/The Actors. The other half of why this movie works so well is due to wonderful performances from all the actors in this film. Each one of them delivers top quality performances. The major complaint I hear about big Hollywood movies today is that audiences don't care for a lot of the characters in movies with body-counts. To the credit of the actors, the characters in Train to Busan are wonderful. There a handful of characters and you come to care for them as the movie progresses. It's been a long time since I've an ensemble so deftly executed in a mere two hours. And they don't feel like cliches or archetypes either. And the character arc of Seok-woo (our main character) and his daughter is moving and heart-wrenching, it just gets you right there.
And the Zombies. Equally important as everything I've mentioned above in a film like this are, of course, the zombies. And this film nails the zombies and the zombie action. These zombies are scary. And the tension when they're around goes through the roof.
NITPICKS
The only thing I'd change about this movie is I'd make it gorier. Now, the average viewer probably thinks the film is gory enough as it is and I am definitely not the average viewer when it comes to horror films. There's also a good chance that the gore level is perfect to engage those who don't appreciate gore as much as I do and that any more gore might repel a large number of viewers. One of the things I complained about with World War Z was the PG-13 aspect of it and the distinct lack of gore in it. Train To Busan has more gore than World War Z but it could use a little more. Or maybe my personal gore meter has gone up due to the number of horror films I've seen in my day. There's a good argument for the latter, I'll give you that.
THE VERDICT
Train To Busan exemplifies everything a good zombie film should be. The film is well executed on all fronts and is extremely entertaining and thrilling. The acting is well done. The characters you actually like and care for. And the zombies are striking and scary. It doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything. What it does is demonstrate how to showcase a great zombie movie. Train To Busan reminds one of just how entertaining a good zombie film can be. It could use a bit more gore for my taste but then I'm the kinda guy who likes um' raw.
Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 0 out of 10
For more zombie movies check out these other films below!
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