Train to Busan

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⭐ 8.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

This was a movie made specifically for me. Nobody likes zombie post apocalypses like I do. However, as a result, this movie offered very little new to the genre. Between The Walking Dead, Last of Us or even World War Z, there isn't much new to see here. I predicted all the major plot points within the first fifteen minutes, and this movie followed all the tried and true zombie tropes pretty carefully. You know the characters who will die, which characters are untouchable, and which characters will have certain arcs.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing! Those tropes are common for a reason! This movie was pretty effective at everything it tried. I love this genre because it speaks directly about the human condition, and what we would do in extreme circumstances. It always gets me thinking, though I know for a fact I'd be a zombie within a thirty minutes of the outbreak and not have to think over moral conundrums. The themes of survival vs selflessness, which lives have value over others, stuff like that. It's all here, and it's all presented in a way that really works.

I actually didn't appreciate this kind of horror much. Rather then general creepiness and tension, this was more just nervously waiting for jump scares and hoping you don't have to watch a zombie rip someone's stringy neck cords out with their teeth (what are these cords and why can only zombies find them?). This was super gruesome, and maybe I've gone soft but I really didn't enjoy having to watch a lot of this movie.

But overall this movie was fantastic. It has some great recognizable cast members from the three Korean things I've watched, and then there was that scene which made me cry in a very real way. I really love that they let that scene play out in the way it probably would have went in real life rather than the way the audience would have wanted. It is a scene I won't soon forget.

So yeah, if you like zombie stuff and can tolerate yucky neck cords, watch it! Again, I just don't think it's on par with The Last of Us, but really what is?

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