‘Train to Busan’ is a ride you’ll never forget

For our final cult horror movie review this year, we’re taking a trip to South Korea to check out the 2016 zombie flick, “Train to Busan.” The film tells the story of Seok-woo, a busy and distant father who must take his daughter, Su-an, on a train ride to the city of Busan in order to see her mother. When a vicious zombie apocalypse terrorizes the country, however, it is up to the father and the many passengers aboard the train to fight their way to survival.

The plot on paper is a very standard zombie premise-a confined or isolated area inhabited by strangers who must learn to get over their petty differences in order to survive a horde of man-eating zombies. This leads many of the film’s series of events to have a never-ending sense of predictability, making it relatively easy to figure out who will live and die throughout the ordeal. However, the film’s strength ultimately comes in its execution. What “Train to Busan” lacks in originality, it makes up for in unadulterated frenetic energy that makes the experience nonstop fun almost from beginning to end.

There’s very little beating around the bush here. Within the first 15 or 20 minutes of setting up our characters and their personal struggles, the film wastes no time getting to the goods and never lets up from there. The action is well-handled, with punchy cinematography, editing and sound design that delivers these moments with rapid brutality. The over-the-top direction, however, almost never clashes with the very down-to-earth nature given to its characters and their dilemmas, a truly astounding feat for a film such as this.

Seok-woo makes for a simplistic, yet compelling, protagonist who you truly do root for. While his struggle is nothing new, being the typical overly busy father who has a difficult relationship with his child and family, the time given to understand him and the nuanced performance by Gong Yoo help make him feel like a very real person. This sense of reliability extends to the rest of the cast as well. The expert acting and dialogue gel very well and allow for tension to be built in a very natural way.

The film’s pacing, while overall exciting and fun, is also its biggest downfall. Outside of some small moments here and there, the film hardly takes a moment to breath, which makes picking up on some story beats quite a task at times. This mashed up storytelling also makes for certain plot points to fall under scrutiny when thought about for too long and slightly derails the tension of certain scenes as a result.

Nontheless, “Train to Busan” still makes for an above average zombie movie that is yet another cult classic in the making. Its unapologetic gnarly action and fully realized characters make this a flick worth your time this Halloween season.