Hop in if you want to live.
You know versions of this iconic line from theTerminatorfranchise, spoken by humans and robots alike. It’s used in the trailer forTrain to Busan Presents: Peninsulaby a little girl driving a car, promising her would-be passengers salvation from the zombie hordes and post-apocalyptic factions of human suffering after them. This line’s recontextualization combined with its context in the trailer should tell you everything you need to know about the semi-sequel’s point of view. But you should still watch the rest of the wild trailer yourself.
If you’ve not seenTrain to Busan, the tight and surprisingly emotional zombies on a train masterpiece from South Korean filmmakerYeon Sang-ho, treat yourself. It’s about an estranged father and his daughter on a train trip to her mother’s that gets invaded by, well, the zombie apocalypse. It’s quite the concoction of a genre film, giving us horror set pieces, fleet action, and a lovely character-driven through-line throughout. Now, Yeon is returning to the world he set up inPeninsula– not to make a direct sequel, but to expand everything.
Based on this trailer,Peninsulalooks to be theAlienstoTrain to Busan’sAlien; theDawn of the DeadtoNight of the Living Dead. Four years after the events ofTrain to Busan, Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won) leads a group of soldiers on a search and rescue mission to find resources and survivors in the apocalypse-torn South Korea. When they get stuck within a new zombie attack – not to mention the violent coping mechanisms undergone by the ravaged post-apocalyptic survivors – all Hell breaks loose. Yeon seems to have widened his scope considerably, staging bonkers looking action set pieces in various different locations, with a much larger set of toys to play with. It looks entertaining, terrifying, surreal, and like a remarkable follow-up to his last film.
Check out the trailer below. For more onPeninsula, here’ssome more details from Yeon.And for more wonderful South Korean films to check out, here aresome of my favorite!
