First Class Ride on the Zombie Express!

Rating: 9/10 (1 April 2020)

Not since George A Romero's ground-breaking Night of the Living Dead have I been quite so excited by a zombie film, as I have by Korean director Yeon Sang-ho's outstanding Train to Busan written by Park Joo-suk. Just as Romero's iconic black and white feature almost single-handedly dragged horror stories away from the antiquated gothic conventions of yesteryear, Train to Busan is most definitely a zombie film for a 21st century global world, familiar with the challenges associated with all manner of international travails.
The film mostly takes place on a bullet train travelling from Seoul to Busan as a zombie apocalypse suddenly breaks out in the country and threatens the safety of all the confined passengers. These include Seok-woo a cynical workaholic fund manager and divorced father of his daughter Su-an, who wants to spend her birthday with her mother in Busan. Other passengers include Sang-hwa and his pregnant wife Seong-kyeong, Yon-suk a calculating, manipulative chief executive, a high school baseball team including Yong-guk and his cheerleader girlfriend Jin-hee, elderly sisters In-gil and Jong-gil, and a traumatized homeless stowaway hiding in the bathroom. As the train departs, an ill young woman runs onto the train unnoticed. She turns into a zombie and attacks a train attendant, who also turns. The infection spreads rapidly throughout the confined spaces of the train.
The beauty of this film is that it doesn't just concentrate on the provision of standard visceral generic thrills. It serves as a vehicle to highlight civil unrest resulting in mass hysteria and general panic and indecisiveness; the root of confusing mixed messaging and communications from governing authorities. It can also be seen as a scrutinising microscope, forensically examining the breakdown of nuclear families, socio-economic class distinctions and seeking answers to ethical and moral questions such as which is of greater importance, survival of the individual or the collective?
Fine performances abound from the large cast with particular attention being directed towards Ma Dong-seok as Sang-hwa, a tough, working-class man, who is first to demonstrate to other passengers that it is possible to fight back against insurmountable odds, whilst showing care towards other individuals. Ostensible lead actor Gong Yoo is also very convincing as a self-centred work obsessive, who slowly realises his personal responsibilities to others, as well as his own latent skills and talents that may help him and others survive the onslaughts they must face.
The film created on a budget of just US$8.5 million is a technical marvel, filled with a number of amazing shots, which I for one couldn't help wondering how they had actually been staged and to what extent, if any, was CGI involved. The suspense and thrill factor is only enhanced by a number of twists and turns and breath-taking set pieces which never appear contrived or staged, rather logical outcomes from previous actions.
I can only encourage you to grab a ticket and climb aboard the Train to Busan; not just a clever, fresh take on the zombie genre, but also an extremely well-made film with fully realised characters and plenty of social commentary to underscore the bursts of skilfully staged action.