TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA 4K UHD (2020) Review
Four years after South Korea’s total decimation in TRAIN TO BUSAN, the zombie outbreak thriller that captivated audiences worldwide, acclaimed director Yeon Sang-ho brings us PENINSULA, the next nail-biting chapter in his post-apocalyptic world. Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won), a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation on the quarantined peninsula with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best—or worst—of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances.
Originally entitled PENSINULA, but marketed internationally as TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA, this zombie infested apocalyptic heist flick is co-written and directed by Yeon Sang-ho. It is a standalone sequel to the original 2016 film TRAIN TO BUSAN which refreshingly chooses to not opt for being a simple rehash of the original as most sequels are.
It starts promisingly, with a zombie outbreak aboard an evacuation ship, but soon after it flounders and never regains its footing. It all looks great; any stills photos from the film would make it look stunning but to sit through it is too long and fails to match the tension or thriller of its predecessor. On paper it reads like ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and MAD MAX with fast moving zombies but onscreen its oddly flat and unengaging.
TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Peninsula: Making of Featurettes – The Action
• Peninsula: Making of Featurettes – The Characters
• Peninsula: Making of Featurettes – The Director
• Peninsula: Making of Featurettes – The Sequel
• Trailer