Train To Busan

After a decade of overexposure, it almost feels fresh to revisit zombie movies again. Sure The Walking Dead is still going and everything from boy scouts to cockneys have fought the undead in recent memory, but I feel like now's a perfect time to embrace a new kind of zombie movie. Enter the hugely successful Korean-import Train to Busan which just hit Netflix streaming in the U.S.

The movie centers around Seok-Woo, a financial market trader in the midst of a messy separation from his wife and parenting difficulties with his daughter Su-an. Eager to see her mother in the southern resort of Busan, the two person family unit boards a crowded bullet train to make a day trip. However, when a passenger with bite wounds enters the train, the serene ride will soon turn into survival of the fittest chaos as zombie hordes attack.

Like most horror movie monsters, your appreciation for Train to Busan will likely be determined by its take on the zombie genre. As such I'll pick out the four most important elements of the zombie genre and see how Train to Busan stacks up.

The Zombies: Speedy, Not Gory, and Dog Pile Happy

In terms of cinematic zombies, Train to Busan's walking corpses as reminiscent of World War Z's. They run at a dead sprint, it's hard to determine whether or not they ingest or simply turn their victims, and they push towards things en masse. While the scale doesn't quite match World War Z's Hollywood background, this does mean we get images like a pile of zombies pushing out of windows like loose beans or odd dog pile like scenarios where zombie bodies are used by other zombies as leverage. This set also adds a fun element of a random weakness that comes into play in some of the action sequences.

The Setup/Set Pieces: Close Quarters and Run For Life Chases

A lot of zombie movies seem to enjoy the violence or fighting the undead, but don't but a lot of effort into staging or action friendly camera work. Thankfully, Train to Busan is not one of them. Every small action scene is excitingly shot with a clear sense of geography and a pulsing score behind it.

The action is also nicely varied between stealthy back and forths, foot chases, and furious fights in the train cars. I'd really like to see director Sang-ho Yeon expand into big scale action and see what happens.

The Themes: Fear, Fatherhood, & Self-Interest

Much like zombie movies of its ilk, Train to Busan is all about the human response to an existential threat. Some people are naturally empathetic while others do all in their power to save themselves, other folks be damned. That's the film's central conflict as our lead character struggles with whether or not to be a good person while still maintaining his daughter's safety. Granted the film strongly argues that fearful non-empathetic thinking is not only reprehensible but is ultimately detrimental to an individual's survial as well. There's also an interesting throughline about parental connection and responsibility that builds throughout the film. 

The Characters: Well-Realized Arc for Our Lead

The moral questions of the film are perfectly realized in our Seok-Woo, played excellently by Yoo Gong. Based on his profession and his early behavior the audience probably won't like him and will view him as a selfish bastard who's only looking out for himself. But as the film progresses, we start to see how much he cares about his daughter, his cleverness, and the empathy he felt like he had to stow away for his daughter's sake. While the rest of the characters might be one note or stock, Seok-Woo's journey gives the film an investment and added weight as we move towards the finale.

Verdict: Solid From Top To Bottom

Train to Busan isn't revolutionary but is the very best of zombie movies all rolled into one. I highly recommend checking this one out.