All aboard!

Rating: 7/10 (6 February 2017)

Yoo Gong plays Seok Woo, a workaholic father who hasn't been enough of a presence in his daughter Soo-ans' (Soo-an Kim) life. Still, when she yearns for a trip to visit her mother, he agrees, determined to do right by her for a change. But the journey by train is like a sprint through Hell, as an undetermined virus is infecting SCORES of Korean people. It's up to a select few, including father and daughter, to survive and make it to Busan, which is supposedly something of a safe zone.
"Train to Busan" is sometimes cartoonish and over the top, and does go on longer than is really necessary. The amount of time it takes for the virus to infect a bitten person varies depending on the needs of the screenplay. And writer / director Sang-ho Yeon isn't averse to succumbing to genre clichÃ©s, such as the one cowardly individual who will throw others to the wolves in order to buy himself more time. Fortunately, the director serves up a satisfying smorgasbord of carnage, and often gets by on pure showmanship. He also makes sure that the scenario retains its humanity, never letting the horror get completely out of control. His characters may sometimes be ridiculous, but he does give us some heroes for whom we can root. The performances range from reasonably sturdy to frenzied, and as a leading character Seok is a little unconventional, because he actually teaches his daughter to always look out for # 1 first, rather than be compassionate.
Pretty slick filmmaking and generous doses of gore help to keep this from ever getting boring, plus Dong-seok Ma (the expectant husband Sang Hwa) is a fairly amusing badass type of guy.
Seven out of 10.