Lots of fun

Rating: 8/10 (10 September 2016)

"Train to Busan" is an amazingly entertaining movie, with a few missteps that stop it from being truly great.
The story is pretty simple. Yoo Gong's Seok Woo is a man that only cares about his job. His wife has left him and lives in Busan, while his relationship with his daughter is becoming more and more strangled. The daughter (a quite amazing Soo-an Kim) wants to visit her mother for her birthday, and Seok Woo ends accepting. They decide to take the train from Seoul to Busan.
At the same time a zombie-outbreak happens in South Korea.
Cue lots of violence, running, blood and surprising moments, with a huge dose of feelings (but without falling into the cheesy).
The movie keeps things simple: train, zombies, stations, and a bunch of people that will try to survive (some of them will do anything to do so). In that respect it is not especially original. The plot is thin as it comes, but the direction keeps things fast and breezy, and plot developments keep happening non-stop. The direction is a little bit video-game style, but fits the movie. The originality in the fights between the zombies and the survivors is one of the strong points of the movie, with some surprising moments. On the other hand, it can't help but fall into the "I-don't-want-to-live-without-you" moments, or some extra saccharine situations. Also, some of the characters' decision-making is just silly, and even if a couple of moments are clearly comedy, the line between comedy and action-horror is not clearly drawn, and some laughs are more on the "wrong-time" side. Actually, the movie is not very scary, but it is quite the ride.
The acting is quite good, and some, as charisma-oozing Dong-seok Ma, or selfish-as-hell Eui-sung Kim, do a great job. And the music, scenery, and effects keep a good level thorough the film.
There is also a quite obvious social commentary, but it does it in a way that it hits target more than misses, and brings its ideas clearly across the screen. This commentary elevates the movie in its lowest moments.
"Train to Busan" may not arrive on time, but you won't care.