Peninsula ( Train To Busan 2 )

There are moments in your life when you experience something that is hard to explain. A moment that you feel so connected with, that you will never forget that moment. For me personally, i have several of those moments that i will never forget. One of those moments is of course when Ronan Keating released his solo debut album Ronan back in the year of 2000. Now, i could easily mention at least 5 guys who felt the same way about the solo debut album, because we played this album everyday, and dreamed away that we all shared Ronan. I realise that this may sound silly to some people, but when ever i hear Ronan Keating, i travel back 20 years in my mind and feel at home, like i belong with Ronan. When it comes to film experiences that i will never forget, i have a list of films that i will always remember for a lot of different reasons. Instead of going through the list ( that would take too long ) i decided to pick out one film specifically. And that is the South Korean horror film Train To Busan, released in 2016. A zombie film with so much power, and strong characters, that you could not get out of the cinema seat. Train To Busan is one of the few zombie films that knows exactly how to combine a zombie invasion with strong characters included. But not only that, this film also managed to capture the iportance of keeping humanity alive, and not loosing hope when everything seems impossible. Director Sang-ho Yeun showed the world with this film that the zombie genre is still alive and can still deliver solid horror entertainment, by making sure that this film would reach a completely different level of quality than most films in this genre. When we got the news that a sequel was on the way, i was really happy. The only thing i was not sure about was if the sequel would be able to deliver the same level of quality as the first film did. And then i saw the poster, and got a really good feeling. Is this a sequel that is even better than anyone could have predicted, or should this sequel have been cancelled from the very first beginning ?

Marine Captain Jung-Seok ( Gang Dong-wan ) is driving his elder sister, her husband Chul-min ( Do-Yoon Kim ) and his nephew Dong-Whan to a ship leaving South Korea, wich is swept by a zombie outbreak. On the way to the ship, he encounters a family that is in need of help, and instead of stopping the car he drives by the family, leaving them behind. In the cabin of the ship, an infected man turns into a zombie and infects numerous people, including Dong-Whan. Jung-Seok then unwillingly decides to leave Dong-Whan and his mother behind. Four years later in Hong Kong, a guilt-ridden Jung-Seok, with Chul-Min and two other Koreans, have accepted a mission to retrieve an abandoned food truck wich contains bags of cash totaling 20 million US dollars. The four manage to escape with the truck. On their way back to Incheon Port, the four are ambushed by a rouge milita Unit 631, led by Sergeant Hwang ( Min-Jae Kim ). The truck, taken by Unit 631 arrives at the milita compound. Private Kim and Captain Seok discover the bags with cash, and realise that they need to be quiet at the milita compound, to make sure that none of the others who live in here knows about the money. Jung-Seok realise that he must get the truck back, or this evil milita group will cause a lot of problems for the world with that much money.

I had a feeling that Peninsula would be something in my taste as soon as i watched the trailer. And i can tell you, if you are a big fan of apocalyptic films, and zombie films as well, then you are going to have a really good time with this film. For a sequel, this film manage to bring on the legacy of the first Train To Busan, and bring on some other elements as well. The best way to describe this film is like going on your favourite roller coaster ride, you know you won´t be disappointed. If you remember the zombies of the 2013 film World War Z, then you know it´s not going to be slow action scenes. These zombies are extremely fast in Peninsula, and for some reason they love lights, such as car lights, neon lights and different sounds as well, so they clearly have no eye problems or hearing problems either. There are some other fun details as well, such as a camp with survivors that play a game of zombies against kidnapped people, where they constructed like a battle arena, where the game is about surviving a zombie hord. Sickening of course to play with human lives, but makes an interesting angle on how far humans are willing to go to entertain themselves. There are a lot of characters in this film, and the acting is actually really good from the whole cast, But let´s get into some of the interesting characters. Actor Dong-Won Gang ( who i have previously seen in Ma-seu-teo, a really good South Korean financial thriller ) plays the rough character Jung Seok. The thing about Jung Seok is that you can clearly see that he is suffering with his past, that he made some choices that he regret, and he is now trying to make things right. I have to say that actor Dong-Won Gang is a really good action actor, and he proves that with a lot of power in his performance. Actress Jung-hyun Lee ( who you must see in the action drama film Gunhamdo ) gives a strong acting performance as the character Min Jung, who shows why it is so important with strong female characters on the big screen. Peninsula is an action horror film that we may recognize from other similar post apocalyptic films, but this film has so much power that you will never be bored. Director Sang-ho Yeon returns with a sequel to the first Train To Busan, and knows exactly what fans of the first film wanted. He knows how to use camera technique in a very effective way through a massive zombie hord, and how to capture the dramatic survival instincts of humans through this powerful story. If you loved the first film then you have to see this sequel, and i guarantee you will feel right at home with us apocalyptic film fans.

Rating: DDDD