"Train to Busan - 2: Peninsula" is the exact opposite of the first part. But that's why it's worth watching

On August 20, the sequel of the famous zombie horror of 2016 will be released on Russian screens. The first part once conquered the whole world thanks to a very tense claustrophobic atmosphere. The whole action took place on the train: the most ordinary passengers tried with all their might to escape from the invasion of the living dead and get to the safe zone in the city of Busan.

In the continuation of the original, there was practically nothing left, except for the general world, the behavior of the zombies and a couple of basic ideas. Therefore, you need to watch the second "Train to Busan" with a completely different mood and approach.

Action instead of thriller

The safe zone rumors from the first movie turned out to be a myth. Zombies took over the entire Korean Peninsula, and the survivors were hastily evacuated to Hong Kong and other states. Although the ships were regularly identified infected, which were immediately dealt with by the soldiers.

From the opening scene, it may seem that the sequel will pick up the mood of the first part, only the action will be transferred from the train to the ship. Moreover, in the background they mention both Busan and the first outbreak of the virus. But all this is just a deception, the film will quickly change the surroundings and mood.

Four years after the events of the first "Train to Busan", former military man Han Jong-sok, who settled in Hong Kong, receives a tempting offer from criminals. Together with a small group of mercenaries, he must take out a truck full of dollars from the contaminated area. In case of successful completion of the mission, each participant will receive a large reward.

The job doesn't seem too difficult: you just need to be careful and watch out for zombies. But it turns out that much more dangerous monsters live in the deserted area - people.

From the very beginning it becomes clear that "Peninsula" does not repeat the famous original, but, like "Aliens" or the second "Judgment Night", develops a familiar world, scales it and adds action.

But the famous franchises somehow relied on previous films: they retained either the main characters or the most recognizable feature of history. In the case of the continuation of "Train to Busan", the connection with the first part is limited only to the general world and a couple of phrases. You can watch the new film without even knowing the picture of 2016.

Unfortunately, with this approach, the sequel has lost most of the recognizable details of the original. The plot of the film remains at the level of the action movies of the nineties: the heroes face a gang of marauders, find new friends and escape from zombies.

The atmosphere of horror was replaced by chases, gunfights and fights.

It works well as a simple entertainment, but not too memorable. There are many similar plots, and the quality of the production, although at a height, still loses to Hollywood blockbusters.

A cool hero instead of a frightened crowd

The first "Train to Busan" hooked many viewers with its live protagonists. These are just people who went about their business and found themselves in mortal danger. It is very easy for the viewer to associate himself with such characters: they are afraid, from fear they commit vile deeds, and in a moment of weakness they are even ready to surrender. Only Ma Dong-suk's character played the role of a tough guy, but it looked rather ironic.

"Peninsula" represents exactly the opposite characters. Han Jong-sok is a tough military man who shoots without a miss and dashingly fights against zombies. And even the young girls he meets in the city are driven by cars and have learned to fight monsters. These are typical cliché action heroes who have already appeared on the screens many times.

The situation is even worse with other mercenaries. They look like regular background characters from the eighties slashers, whose main task is to die at the right moment. And the villains in the form of a gang of former military men also seem to have come from an old movie: a crowd of cruel marauders who scoff at the captives and endlessly fight each other for power.

It's better to forget about believable characters in this film right away. Only the already mentioned girls sometimes show vivid emotions, showing that they are still children. But this part of the plot looks too predictable and doesn't reveal much about the rest of the characters.

Special effects instead of fear

The budget of the film has doubled in comparison with the first part. Of course, by Hollywood standards, $ 16 million is not a very large amount, but in "Peninsula" you can clearly see where this money went.

The authors have cleverly preserved the most memorable part of the original - the unusual behavior of the zombies. In the first "Train to Busan", scenes where the walking dead literally turned into a mess of bodies were impressive. The sequel shows the monsters on an even larger scale, especially since the action is now not limited to a couple of locations. The post-apocalyptic city has been worked out very well.

Zombies rush through the streets in droves, and the heroes destroy them in all sorts of ingenious ways. There is even something like gladiatorial battles with the living dead.

The most dynamically set chases. They sometimes forget about physics, as in the Fast and the Furious franchise, but here an unusual approach saves. For example, the parallel between a car that is actually being pursued and a toy car.

Shot from the film "Train to Busan - 2: Peninsula"

The picture is clearly aimed at the success of a large-scale horror-action movie like "Resident Evil". And for the most part it copes with this task. Those who, in the first part, lacked just the scale and the war with zombies, will definitely rejoice in the sequel.

People instead of monsters

Despite the complete lack of plot connection, the sequel retained the main idea of "Train to Busan". Zombies, for all their bloodthirstiness, seem to the mercenaries not such a terrible threat.

The main and most terrible villains of both parts are people.

This makes both parts of "Train to Busan" similar to Danny Boyle's famous film "28 Days Later" and many other good horrors. In the first picture, the survivors easily fed their comrades to the monsters in order to save themselves. In "Peninsula" marauders disdain not only the prisoners, but also each other.

Against this background, the idea of self-sacrifice in the desire to save relatives, or even helping unfamiliar people, at least because of a sense of guilt, looks important and, alas, a rare manifestation of humanity.

Shot from the film "Train to Busan - 2: Peninsula", 2020

Such morality can hardly be called original, and even more so deep. But the reminder that in any situation you need to remain human will never be superfluous. After all, unfortunately, the news every day shows that people can sometimes be worse than any crowd of zombies.

Oddly enough, the main drawback of the movie "Train to Busan - 2: Peninsula" is the presence of the legendary first part. In the original title, by the way, there is no reference to it, it is mentioned only in the advertisement and the plot itself.

The link to the 2016 movie certainly brings more attention to the sequel, but also inflates expectations. But in reality, "Peninsula" is unlikely to become the same legend. The original picture impressed with the tense atmosphere and the atmosphere of fear. The sequel only entertains with action and special effects and does not evoke deep emotions. At the first and probably the only viewing, it will delight, but very quickly forgotten.