 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2020 release Train to Busan Peninsula. And yes, it's the follow up to the very popular zombie film Train to Busan from South Korea. Now this is going to be a shutter exclusive. It's coming to shutter on Thursday, April 1st. And because I'm putting this review out before that, this is a no spoiler review, but also just because it's new to that streaming service. So just going to give you some information and you can take it as you want. So before on this one, I by and large don't really like zombie films, but I did like the original Train to Busan. So for me to really enjoy a zombie film, it has to be very different. It has to have a very original interesting take because I personally think that zombies are super boring and dumb. And there have been so many zombie movies and shows that have been out over the past well, more than a decade really at this point that I'm just sick of them. So in order for me to actually like that stuff, it needs to be very unique, very interesting, have a really compelling and good story. And as you can probably tell with me ranting about that, this film is not that for me. But if you just like anything zombie or you're not that hard to please with zombie films, you may really end up liking this because it looks really good and there are good things about it. So I'm going to break it down good and bad, but I just needed to get that disclaimer out of the way first. Written by Sang Ho Yoon, who also did Train to Busan and also the little animated short that they short film that they had for it called Soul Station, which I did not see that. And I think it was on Shutter for a little bit. I might be wrong about that, but it was on Shutter or maybe they even still is. I don't know. Written by Yoon and Ryu Yong Jae, who has no writing credits. So this was our first time working on a script. This actually takes place four years after the events of the original Train to Busan, but it doesn't really have any connection to any of the original characters in the film or the place or doesn't have any connection really, like pretty much no connection. It's just called Train to Busan again and it's in the same world and it's four years later and it's based off the same zombie situation. So very quick synopsis, it's a zombie film that takes place four years after Train to Busan. I mean, that's really, I mean, I guess what I can tell you is that I don't want to ruin too much about it because there's not a ton to the story itself. So I want to leave as many surprises as possible if people actually want to check it out because it looks good. And like I said, if you're if you're down with zombie films, you may very well really like this thing. So I don't want to say too much about it, but they do go larger in scope. They do more with a lot of scenes. This whole like bigger, better, you can tell it's kind of probably a bigger budget for the film and it just feels that way. So just know that. The beginning sets a bleak scene as the backdrop for the film, but you knew that if you saw the first film that it's bleak. But there's one particular event that happens early on that's supposed to kind of set the tone for the world they're living in and kind of what's been done to humanity in a sense since the zombie situation occurred. And that's kind of a theme that continually comes up, which you could probably end up guessing because that happens in a lot of zombie films where there wasn't really a military element in the first film. There is one in this film. So you feel like there's kind of a bit more hope for survivors. Now this is one of my problems in general with the film in comparison to the first one. The first one was mainly like, you know, civilian people, you know, for the most part closed in a train for the majority of the film. So it was very kind of like little hope with people who are normal people in a very confined space. So it felt claustrophobic. It felt more high stakes and it felt more hopeless. The problem with this film in my opinion is that it expands the world a lot more. There's a lot more space. There's a lot more opportunity to get away, to live, more options for ways to get around the zombies or fight the zombies. And then you also have a little bit of a military element injected in there. So that kind of ups the survivability. So I think for that reason, it's it just doesn't feel as high stakes. It feels more relaxed in a sense. And I don't know if other people end up feeling that when they see the film. But I just think in comparison to train to Busan, it's a lot less intense. It's a lot less high stakes. It's a lot less interesting, in my opinion, for the most part. It feels like any random zombie film I've seen for a long time. I've seen so many. Yeah, the film looks, oh, okay, real quick, there's something that happens early that's supposed to have a big impact, but you don't know the characters. So it kind of turns into low impact. Now looking back on it when you get further into the film, maybe you'd be like, oh, now it makes more sense. Now I feel the impact of it more. But there is kind of this issue overall in the film that a lot of the characters aren't that interesting. They're not very well developed. You don't really have much backstory on them and you're just supposed to feel for them. So they're not very good characters. There are a few. There are a few who are kind of interesting, good characters. But I don't think they get as much screen time as they should. They get an okay amount of screen time. And those are kind of the more bright parts of the film, in my opinion. So some people may be able to guess who I think are the better characters. You can put a comment down there because go ahead, spoilers in the comments. We can do that. The film looks good and their dark scenes don't end up being too dark. And I'm not talking about dark subject material wise. I'm talking about dark as far as lighting goes because there's a problem for some films when it's dark to be way too dark. So you have a hard time seeing what's going on. They do not do that here. You can see everything that's going on even when it's dark outside. So they did a good job there. Directing and cinematography also looking really good. The acting is really good in it as well. No problems there. So from a technical standpoint, if you just want a film that looks good about zombies, this might be the film for you. It is really good looking. And there actually are some really cool scenes, especially later in the film, that I actually was pretty engaged with kind of the more, like I said, they go bigger in this than they did in Train to Busan in certain ways. And in some moments that really does pay off in a cool, engaging way. But it was mainly towards the end of the film. I already talked about acting being great. There's a mission aspect to the film, which I like as a concept for a zombie film. Now that said, it does tend to kind of get a little bit boring for the majority of the film. And it is like a two hour film. So I think they should have cut it down. I really think it needed to be cut down because the story is just not that compelling if they would have moved it a lot faster. I think I would have enjoyed it more just saying something happens about 30 minutes in that had me wondering where they were planning to go with it. So there was that little twist of intrigue. But then, like I said, it starts to get a little bit boring and the pacing little problematic. There's a callback from the beginning of the film that seems like a real stretch in my opinion. And yeah, I'd be interested to see what other people think. But obviously I'm not going to talk about the specifics of that because I don't want to spoil anything. There are moments of comedy and a lot of them actually don't end up working. Some of them do land and some of them were legitimately kind of funny. But there are too many of these kind of like try hard comedy moments. And it didn't feel appropriate for what's going on. Like it really didn't. I feel like they were very much shorned and they just didn't go over. Well, I mean, like I said, a few of them landed. But for the most part, they didn't. There are some solid action sequences with well handled camera movement. That's the other thing. I said there's some stuff towards the end of the film that's more engaging and cool and the camera work is really awesome during that. Because like I said, directing and cinematography really good with this film, the movements, how the camera kind of like makes its way around certain people and objects in scenes looks really, really good and engaging. I enjoy that aspect of it. About one and a half hours in, there's some stuff involving vehicles that's really fun and engaging. So look out for that if you're going to watch it. That's my favorite stretch of the film. So about an hour and a half into about an hour 45. So for those like 15 minutes, pretty fun, pretty engaging. I enjoyed that. They really do draw out the end, though. And the music is over the top at the same time. But some some people may really like it. They're going for big impact at the end. But I think they overplay the music a lot. They take it way too slow and just like focus on it way too long. There's too much kind of slow motion type stuff. It just takes too long. And I think for me personally, it starts to lose the impact. But also the characters just aren't that great. So I just just like, can we just, you know, can we just be done here? Like it's almost two hours. Let's just be let's cut it off. I got what I needed. Let's move on here. The first film kept tension high with zombies in a confined space. This one doesn't do that. So it feels like there's a lot more potential for survival, like I already said. But they do make the scenes a lot bigger in scope and increase the zombie count a lot. That's the other thing. Now, that said, I do feel like the zombies until the end of the film. It's almost like they don't matter. And that's one of the big issues with, like I was saying, with the first one, it felt like the zombies mattered the entire time. And there's low survivability and it's a high stakes situation. Things are so low stakes and things are so open that until the very, very end, when stuff really starts to go crazy, you kind of just feel like whatever about the zombies, like you even for a stretch, you feel like they're not even there, honestly. Like they have no impact on the story. And honestly, this script could have easily just been done. So they were no zombies. Like the main story doesn't even matter. Zombies don't matter at all, really. So, yeah. The story isn't that compelling and characters are characters and the characters aren't really either that compelling. Although, two, two in particular, I did enjoy. There are some characters who were kind of like, kind of maybe. But there are a lot of characters who just like they just introduce them and they're just supposed to be a certain way and you're just supposed to accept that. And it's just kind of like you can't just drop this on me and think that I'm supposed to care or like think that it's supposed to like fit the situation you're going for. It is weird. There's some real negative commentary on human behavior in a zombie situation. And I think it's actually probably all accurate for like, if we actually had a zombie apocalypse, I think that stuff would be pretty true. Basically about humanity just being terrible. I think it's probably pretty accurate. But, you know, if you've seen The Walking Dead or if you've read the comics, then you probably know those types of points they're getting at because it's overplayed. So in the end, I don't need this film. I was fine watching it once. There were some cool engaging films, engaging scenes and aspects of the film. Like I said, it looks really good, really good directing, cinematography and acting. And for the most part, the music is well integrated until the very end where it's way too over the top. But I didn't I don't need this film. We don't need more zombie films. I think for me personally, this is another casualty of the there's way too many zombie films, everyone's doing it and we should just stop because zombies are boring. And unless you're bringing something super new to the table, let's just move on, please. Can we just get more like werewolf films? I would like some of that or like creatures from the sea. I like underwater films. Those are cool. Anyway, that's just my thought. So out of five stars with half stars in play, I'm just going to give it a two and a half because I know I have some bias here because of my not liking zombie films. And there are some good things about it. But I think the story is just really, really lacking and it's too long. And that whole thing with really drawing it out at the end and some pacing problems. But two and a half. I thought about going two stars, but I'm going to be more fair, two and a half because it looks good. I mean, it is a well technically executed film for the most part. But put your opinions down in the comments. Let's talk about it. I especially want to hear from people who liked it and why, you know, what grabbed you about the film? And also if people want to throw some comparisons between the first and second film, you know, your thoughts on that, that'd be awesome, too. But anyway, thanks for checking this out. Do me a quick favor, though. Hit that subscribe button if you can. And you literally can because it just tastes like a second to do it. And I do really appreciate it. I'm just trying to grow this nerdy horror community and have more people to talk to. And sure, if I get a lot of subscribers, that would be cool, too. Let's just keep going, folks. Also hit the notification bell button, because then you'll know when I'm putting up new review videos like this or haul videos or unboxings or opinion pieces or whatever. But I really do thank you for taking your time to watch this. And until next time, keep it brutal.