Train to Busan, entails the story of passengers of the KTX 101 train bound to Busan(supposed stronghold of the country in this apocalypse), as a zombie outbreak occurs around them. They would have been largely spared if not for the stray infected person who snuck aboard and spread the virus to the onboard passengers. Our primary focus is the father-daughter duo of Seok-woo and Su-an. The relationship between the father daughter duo is strained at best in which the typical business-type father is too busy to spend time with his daughter, attend her recitals, and so occupied he gets her the Nintendo Wii (which she already owns) as a birthday present. The next group of people we are supposed to care about are, regular average joe, Sang-hwa and and his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong, two sister grannies, a baseball player and his pseudo girlfriend, and a COO who reeks of evil.
Now that listing of the characters are over, I can get to the part where Train to Busan really accomplished what it set out to do. Telling human stories in a calamity. Usually in a zombie movie like this, we would get an insider look on the contagion and how it happened. The story would usually center around the authorities or people who get intertwined with the authorities. This movie was very much different. We got a perspective that for me is rarely touched. Everyday people. All these commuters were from various backgrounds, but none of them explicitly had a background where they were equipped to handle a zombie apocalypse at its inception. Contrary to American movies, none of the characters were ex law enforcement or military operatives whose experience conveniently grants them plot armour.
Speaking of law enforcement, what was really refreshing was the lack of firearms. Due to United States' gun culture, in a typical american movie, guns would have been rampant in a zombie film. Everybody would have had some form of firearm and have the expertise to be expert marksmen. In Train to Busan, characters couldn't shoot their way through the hoards of zombies, they had to run or take their unfortunate chances with melee attacks, which was honestly so much more thrilling. Its a realistic take on an improbable event. If a zombie outbreak were to happen as I was riding the KTM, you best believe I would have ran out of there. I mean I would have tried. I obviously would have tripped and fell to be one of the first victims but I digress.
There are many notable scenes in this movie, but there are especially a few that left a lasting impression on me. The first being the whole montage of the trio consisting of Seok-woo, Sang-hwa, and the baseball player fighting through the train carriages, to rescue the stragglers and reach the safer train carriage. The way the scene was shot truly left me in awe. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Them forcing their way, through sheer brute force with nothing but improvised weapons was truly captivating. It was so good to a point where I could excuse the deus ex machina of them passing through a dark tunnel so that the zombies lose their sight in darkness and they escape.
The other scene which was really nice is when they trains crashed around our characters and knocked them unconscious. They awoke to the trains on top of them and the zombies crawling on the window pane right above them. This literally made me flinch in my seat. Absolutely terrifying. I usually hate jump scares, but that was some creative work.
My minor problem with the movie is, in the final minutes, they almost wanted to give the evil COO guy some depth by mentioning his mother. I would have loved to see some reason for his character to behave the way he did, instead of being evil for evil's sake. I would have liked to see some form of motivation behind his vile acts of sacrificing others to ensure that he can live. Like his mother was dying or something. That would have made us think about our choices in such a situation. We can easily say that we wouldn't do something like that in similar circumstances, but given a more empathetic villain, we might be reevaluating our priorities. Alas, I'm nitpicking, because some people are inexplicably evil and we have to accept that.
The end where Seok-woo bids farewell to his daughter as memories were flooding him was truly a tear jerker. Its one of those things, where you know exactly what will happen to him, yet its still sad when it does happen.
When I first watched the movie, the final scene where Su-an and Seong-kyeong were walking through the tunnel as the sniper was taking aim, I thought they would actually get shot. Part of me wanted it to happen because that would have been such a heartbreaking ending. That would have made it all the more real. However, ending it on a somewhat of a lighter note wasn't too bad either as the movie had enough sad deaths as it is.
I would truly recommend this movie to anyone. I give it a solid 8/10.
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