Not a typical zombie movie

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2020)

Wow, this movie is incredibly intense emotionally. The characters are all designed very well, so even if they seem like bad people at times or have done something wrong, you still are rooting for them because they have learned from their wrongs and are obviously being affected by them (except for one guy). It was surprising how real some of the movie felt, in terms of it not being the typical movie where everything predictably just barely goes perfectly for the main characters. This movie didn't sacrifice realism for plot convenience as much as some other movies which made it very tense and gripping. That said, there definitely were some times that they used plot convenience to set up to play with the audience's emotions, but it wasn't overdone. At times, the acting was kind of off, but I tried thinking about how they should have acted in those situations instead and couldn't think of how to execute what needed to be done. Some of the situations were just way too intense emotionally to really even know how someone would actually react in them. I enjoyed the music and camerawork as they both added to the movie quite a bit. I don't have much negative to say about this film, it was really well done and way better and more thought provoking than I anticipated.
As for symbolism, themes, morals, etc., I didn't expect a zombie movie to be very deep, but Train to Busan really does force you to consider things. The main theme is finding a balance between sacrificing your own best interest for the good of others and putting yourself first. When should you ignore others in need to save yourself? Should you ever? How much of yourself should you sacrifice to help others? These questions are constantly addressed throughout the movie. The entire zombie outbreak was started because of negligence of the well being of others. There is a conflict between the father and his daughter in the beginning that is caused by him not being there in her life because he is always busy with work. His work has even caused his wife to leave him. He was obviously doing it all for his daughter's future, but when is the sacrifice too much and how should it be balanced properly? He learns early on that his daughter thinks of others a lot and does what she can for them, whereas he thinks only of himself a lot of the time which she notices and dislikes. As the story goes on, you can see a noticeable change in his actions as he becomes more and more giving until eventually he has to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his daughter. Along the way, some of his actions have almost instant karma where he will decide to risk helping someone and then they end up saving him soon after or he doesn't take the risk and it causes some sort of conflict for him. There are many characters who made great sacrifices for others and I think he saw that and always took note and saw the result of the sacrifice which helped him change and do the same. There is also a character who is entirely greedy and even sacrifices other for himself and although he does make it pretty far, he ends up infected which is very telling of where that route will get you.
All in all, I believe that Train to Busan is a great film all around and is entirely worth watching, whether you want an emotional, gripping, or thought provoking experience.