Train To Busan

This review may contain spoilers!

If you love zombie films then you have to go check this out! I would give Train To Busan a 7/10.

This film will have you on the edge of your seat throughout the feature, everything is incredibly tense and the film does not mess around at all. The stakes are set incredibly high in two brilliant ways; the film isn't afraid to kill off characters that are in the main cast, and also this film is set almost entirely upon a train in what is an extremely unique setting. The cinematography for this film looks superb, there are very few zombie films that I would describe as looking artistic but this is certainly one. The special effects also look great, whether it be a CGI diseased deer or a flaming train car crashing into a row of other trains or even the various depictions of the zombie hordes.

Gong Yoo, who played Seok-Woo, made for a particularly interesting lead for this film; he starts out as a rather dislikeable character who is motivated by his own interests but through his daughter comes to be quite a selfless and redemptive figure. Jung Yu-Mi, who played Sung-Gyeong, was quite a charming character in this film; her rather reserved compassionate character made for one of the nicer roles in the film. Ma Dong-Seok, who played Sang-Hwa, was an out and out action hero in this film; Dong-Seok was a stand out zombie fighting champion in the scenes he had. Kim Eui-Sung, who played Yong-Suk, made for the perfect antagonist for this film; his complete disregard for anyone but himself made him a very despicable character.

However the best performance came from Kim Soo-Ahn, who played Soo-An. This young actress might be one of the best child performances that I've seen all year, her pure unchecked emotional displays really made her stand out in amongst the litany of brilliant performances. I loved seeing the relationship between her and Yoo grow and become more stable. Soo-Ahn presented a role who grieved, cared for others and stole the show all the way to the last scene of the film.

I thought this film didn't really deliver too much that I hadn't already seen before when it comes to the zombie genre, there are several moments where I get a sense of deja vu back to World War Z or similar features. The way this film linked Seok-Woo's company to the zombie outbreak felt a bit too forced, honestly they should have just kept the origins of this virus a vague mystery.

Choi Woo-Sik, who played Young-Gook, wasn't a character who felt very developed in the film; the sudden focus given to his role in the second half of the film felt like it came out of nowhere. Ahn So-Hee, who played Jin-Hee, was little more than a sloppily written love interest for Woo-Sik; their relationship was very hastily thrown together and one of the low points of the film. Jang Hyuk-Jin, who played Ki-Chul, felt like a weak minor antagonist to Eui-Sung's Yong-Suk; this role wasn't very well written and Hyuk-Jin had a weak screen presence. Ye Soo-Jung and Park Myung-Shin, who played In-Gil and Jong-Gil, were rather boring side characters; their standing in the rest of the main cast was overlooked and their deaths didn't have much impact. Kim Chang-Hwan, who played Assistant Manager Kim, had a rather forgettable role that only really had the purpose of adding a little extra exposition to the film; it's a shame he was the one responsible for instigating the 'responsible for zombie outbreak' subplot because that took away from the film. Lee Joo-Sil, who played Seok-Woo's Mother, was a character who didn't really deliver the emotional payoff we would expect from a role like this; I think it was a wasteful not giving her death much impact.