Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Korean Movie Night: Train to Busan 부산행 (2016) Korean

Gong Yoo, Ma Dong Seok, Jung Yu Mi, Kim Su An, Kim Eui Sung, Choi Woo Shik, Ahn So Hee

Movie rating: 8/10     Neck score: A

I watched this one a while ago with my older sister and her husband.  He is a filmmaker and a zombie enthusiast, so I had to.  He actually bought it and watched it before I could even set up the movie night.  He loved it, so some of his opinions will be shared here as well.

This is one of the most heart filled zombie movies I have seen (I haven't seen that many, but my brother-in-law has, and he said the same thing).  While being gross and violent as all zombie movies must be, it isn't gratuitous violence, it is more about the story and the horror.  And it's plenty intense, because we have little kids and pregnant ladies in the mix, and you just can't help but be more worried about them.  Plus we have the claustrophobic terror of being in the confined space of the train.

The zombies themselves were very interesting, a good mix of body acting, gross make up, and probably some CGI.  But they were really good.  The contortion plus the movements was different and great.  It made it super weird, creepy, and just cool.

One thing that my brother-in-law really liked was the depth to all the characters.  While we had the classic horror film collection of characters, they each had their own depth and were humanized so that we felt things for all of them, even that rich selfish jerk.  We got to see their growth, such as Gong Yoo's character going from worst dad to best dad, or Choi Woo Shik who was too cool/awkward to admit he likes the girl, to becoming a hero to protect her.  Or "dad of the year" Teddy Bear Ma Dong Seok.  He was the best.  Just the very, very best.

Naturally the whole theme was about being united and helping each other and sacrifice.  The only people who survived were ones protected by sacrifice and love.  I would say it was intense over scary, and full of love and emotions.  It also touched on responsibility, and the bitterness of selfishness.

The campiest part was the deer at the beginning.