REVIEW: Train to Busan

We finally got to see Train to Busan on the bigscreen and we loved it. We loved it so much we’ll give it a high score right from the start. Credits also to Rafaella Films for bringing this to Philippine shores!

Its basically a zombie movie across train stations as the main characters try to get to the province of Busan in South Korea.

If you haven’t seen the trailer, we’re providing you a peek at that:

Train to Busan stars Gong Yoo,Kim Soo-Ahn, Dong-seok Ma, Woo-sik Choi, Sohee, Eui-sung Kim and is directed by Sang-ho Yeon.

The movie worked up the audience perfectly and knows when to inject drama and death. It’ll lull you into this false sense of safety and then hit you with a zombie bite. The biggest drag about the film is that it shares the same formula with Western TV show “The Walking Dead” even right down to the shocks and twists. That last sentence though is open to different interpretations because there are some viewers who actually want that.

Anyway, I won’t spoil anything because I highly recommend the film be it for K-Drama fans, zombie fans and genre fans who are looking for a new take on horror.

‘Train to Busan’ is one of those movies that also manages to surprise you despite you, the viewer, having the feeling that you’ve seen everything. The zombie effects range from “oh my god they look legit” to “the makeup department was sleepy”. Still the zombies are a genuine threat here.

One of my classic litmus test when watching horror flicks is to observe the audience reaction to key moments. Thanks to a full bladder I saw the terror and suspense in the faces of the lucky moviegoers who were invited to see the movie. The screams were also present which was a clear sign that its connecting to the audience.

Speaking of connect, I have to give a hat tip to the story element here about fathers and their daughters, husbands and wives and even elderly siblings. A massive tip of the hat too for that film’s antagonist, that douchebag COO of  Stallion Buses who manages to screw up every good thing. Now’s that a villain for you.

Overall, Train to Busan is a satisfying film filled with all the good and the bad in humanity and opens your mind to the possibility that when the zombie apocalypse arrives, survival can sometimes be placed on whether you’re in the right place at the right time or not.

VERDICT

9/10 – I want to give Train to Busan the highest score but some of the moments from the film can drag on for a bit and there are some elements of unbelievability (like how some characters managed to avoid getting bit by zombies despite the numerous close calls).

Still, it makes for an entertaining movie for that props to the cast and crew of Train to Busan