Peninsula Review: Fails to Meet the Mark

Train to Busan: Peninsula Review | Leisurebyte
Peninsula Review: Fails to Meet the Mark

Director: Yeon Sang-ho

Date Created: 2020-07-15 00:00

Editor's Rating:
2.5

Peninsula (반도) is a 2020 zombie-apocalypse horror movie directed by Yeon Sang-ho and starring Dong-Won Gang, Jung-hyun Lee and Re Lee.

A sequel to 2016’s smash hit Train to Busan, Peninsula tackles a similar theme in a bigger set. After the events of the first film, the Korean peninsula has been overrun by zombies and everything’s lost there. Former Marine captain Jung-seok goes back to the zombie-infested wasteland, after running away from there, to retrieve a truck full of American money. However, coming back probably isn’t as easy.

Train to Busan: Peninsula Review

Train to Busan: Peninsula Review: Gang Dong-won
Train to Busan: Peninsula Review: Gang Dong-won

Train to Busan was a great zombie movie. It tackled the similar theme of a zombie apocalypse and put it inside a train. This acted like a suspense-filled bomb which made us sit at the edge of our seats throughout its runtime, and make us weep a bit for its likeable characters too. With Peninsula, the stakes are higher. It’s taking place in a bigger capacity and the characters, too, are large in number. In spite of the almost two-hour runtime, the movie fails to deliver the tension that we got with its predecessor.

First of all, the characters in the movie are not fleshed out that well. Except for the connection Jung-seok and Min-jung, there’s hardly any character background here. This means that you hardly care for these characters when some of them eventually die. It makes watching the movie less thrilling because you’re not rooting for their survival. Furthermore, the movie also ends with a familiar tone, with no major twists that we couldn’t anticipate, unlike Train to Busan. Sure, it’s unfair to compare two different movies, but when the first part is that good, comparison kinda comes into play.

Train to Busan: Peninsula Review: Still
Train to Busan: Peninsula Review: Still

Moreover, the movie is laden with car-chase sequences. There’s a very long one at the end which, after a while, feels extremely repetitive and, frankly, boring. It also does not help that the scenes felt like I was watching some video game. The CGI does not do justice, and it takes away from the overall feel of the movie. Additionally, too much attention is focused on the villains of the film, Sergeant Hwang and Captain Seo. There are more frightening enemies at play, and the focus is mostly not on them.

However, Peninsula’s cinematography is excellent. Even the drab and decaying Korea looks beautiful and mysterious because of it.

If you remember the 2 hours of Train to Busan, you’ll remember that every minute of that movie was impeccable. I still remember crying when I had finished watching it. However, Peninsula does not hold the same charm. It’s patchy and boring in a lot of places.

Train to Busan: Peninsula Review: Koo Kyo-hwan
Train to Busan: Peninsula Review: Koo Kyo-hwan

Scenes tend to feel forced and unnecessary, and the lack of good character-building seriously showed through the runtime. We are not emotionally invested in these people, and thus, there’s no actual thrill. It also has to be taken into consideration that, when you’re inside a tight space, there are only a handful of places you can hide. However, that’s not the case when the setting is the entire Korean peninsula. There are plenty of places to run off to, and there’s no thrill there.

Final Thoughts

Train to Busan: Peninsula Review: Kwon Hae-hyo, Moon Woo-jin
Train to Busan: Peninsula Review: Kwon Hae-hyo, Moon Woo-jin

Peninsula proves that some good movies don’t require a sequel. After the smashing first entry, it felt like it demanded a second part. However, it’s probably for the best that people don’t give in to such things.

Peninsula isn’t all bad, honestly. But it doesn’t have the tension or the thrill that the first movie had. There are a lot of dramatic moments that add nothing to the movie, nor do they make us feel closer to the characters. The zombies were pretty great though.

Train to Busan: Peninsula is now streaming on Prime Video.

Also Read: The Bequeathed Ending Explained: Who Was Behind All the Killings? Who Inherits the Graveyard in the End?

REVIEW OVERVIEW

Overall

SUMMARY

Train to Busan's sequel, Peninsula, fails to impress after the smashing first entry. There are not many thrills that the movie offers, neither do the characters find a special place in our hearts.
Archi Sengupta
Archi Sengupta
Archi Sengupta, a writer for over seven years, is an Engineering graduate with a Master’s degree in Mass Communication. She enjoys watching horror movies and TV shows, Korean content, and anything that thrills and excites her.

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Train to Busan's sequel, Peninsula, fails to impress after the smashing first entry. There are not many thrills that the movie offers, neither do the characters find a special place in our hearts.Peninsula Review: Fails to Meet the Mark