The 333rd review!
I go back to work on Tuesday and I can't say that I'm pumped about it. It has been nice not having to read about the coronavirus or the many pissing contests over in our nation's capital, but oh well. Lincoln passed out a little earlier than usual after his bath so that gave me a chance to check out a longer movie, and I watched...
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula (2020)
I loved Train to Busan. The story was great, the tension was amazing and although it had running zombies, the speed and numbers of the monsters in such close quarters made for some spectacular moments. A sequel has to up the ante on everything, so instead of being confined to a train, the world opens up in this fight for survival.
Four years after the events of the first one, South Korea has been destroyed. As far as the outside world knows, the country's only inhabitants are the dead. A former soldier and a crew are given a job. Sneak into South Korea, find a truck carrying 10-million money, get it to the port and they get to keep half of it. If everything goes smoothly we wouldn't have a movie, so naturally things get out of hand and the group is fractured. Two are killed and two others find themselves captured/rescued by two very different groups of people.
Let me start by saying, it's not as good as the original. The claustrophobic feel of the train cars can't be replicated. Being stuck with nowhere to go creates such a visceral feeling that you can't replicate when they're outside, no matter how many broken down cars you put on the road. Also, while the first one had its share of assholes, they were more of the "looking out for number one" crowd. The baddies in Peninsula may as well have spent the entire movie twirling their mustaches. Every single villain in this movie finds a way to be the most assholish they can be at all times. There's nothing to these guys, they're bordering on comic book villains.
But, one thing this movie does VERY well are the action scenes. The zombies attack in packs and are more like the World War Z ghouls than the Dawn of the Dead ones. I say that as they're almost like insects in how they swarm. It's cool the way they all pile up over an obstacle and it makes for some really scary visuals.
Those scenes are cool, but it gets AWESOME (all caps for a reason) whenever they're driving cars. I've seen a few Fast and Furious movies and Gone in 60 Seconds, but this movie had the most fun and cool car chase scenes I've ever seen. Anytime the young girl, Joon, was behind the wheel, it was quite a treat for your eyes. The first time she's cruising, anytime there's a group ahead, she drifts into them as opposed to plowing right through so she doesn’t get stuck on the pile of bodies. It's great because it looks cool and she keeps doing it. It really gets better and better each time she drifts into them. But the best one is the very end when they're on the run from the zombies and the human baddies. They do so many fun and creative things in that chase to get away from the baddies and to attract the zombies. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed the car chases. Plus, everything's happening so fast that you barely have time to process the wonderful things you're seeing when they do something even cooler seconds later! The final chase is a long one and at no point did it feel old hat. Everything they did in that scene was new and creative. It. is. awesome.
For some random musings, it's funny, at the end, there's a slow motion scene where two characters are running to each other. I swear I'm so conditioned when watching horror movies I was waiting for one or both of them to get shot or have a zombie come out of nowhere. The movie drags a bit when you're following around the baddies because they're not all that interesting but I enjoyed the good guys well enough that I wasn't bored when watching. The zombies are cool and I really liked the way they moved. I mentioned earlier how they swarm like insects and at times it's really entertaining watching them go to work. But the real reason to watch this film is to see Joon get behind the wheel, because that's when the movie really shines.
7 Dr. Chainsaws!
Post Script, you like zombies?? Well, I have just the thing for you! Why not check out my self-published novel Camping with the Dead? Here's a link where you can see what it's about, and where you can buy it!
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula
1 h 55 min
2020
Jung-seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive.
Directors: Yeon Sang-Ho
Starring: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun
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