Peninsula: Train to Busan 2 Movie Review

Synopsis

Most of us were astonished by the 2016 Korean action horror film ‘Train to Busan’. It was indeed a great movie for those who love action and horror films. It also touched our hearts with its heart-melting story. The “Peninsula: Train to Busan 2” was released in other countries in July 2020 and it is said that it can be streamed by November 24, 2020. It is a sequel to the Train to Busan. However, the story of the Peninsula is a little bit different from the Train to Busan. It is Jung-Seok and his team’s quest for millions of dollars from the abandoned peninsula in Korea, which turns out drastically catastrophic because of the zombies and survivors.

Cast and Crews

Directed and written by: Yeon Sang-Ho

Produced by: Kim Yeon-Ho

Lead Characters:

Gang Dong-Won as Jung-Seok
Lee Jung-Hyun as Min-Jung
Lee Re as Joon-Yi
Lee Yo-Won as Yoo-Jin
Kwon Hae-Hyo as Mr. Kim / Commander
Kim Min-Jae as Seargeant Hwang
Koo Gyo-Hwan as Seo Dae-Wi

Supporting Characters:

Kim Kyu-Baek as Kim Yi-Byun
Moon Woo-Jin as Dong-Hwan
Kim Do-Yoon as Goo Chool-Min
Jang So-Yeon as Han Jung-Suk’s older sister
Cha Si-won as the Hong Kong action leader
Kim Tae-Joon as Min-Jung’s husband
Kim Se-Dong as the government official
Lee Se-Rang as the North Korean anchor
Daniel Joey Albright as a U.S. soldier
Yoon Young-Kyun as Sergeant Hwang’s soldier 6
Kim Min-Song as Sergeant Hwang’s soldier 9
Oh Jae-Se as Unit 631 soldier
Kim Wang-Do as Unit 631 soldier
Park Se-Jun as a container soldier
Shin Hee-Chul as spire sentry 2
Jang Kyung-Su as a captain
Kim Hyun-Woo as a zombie
No Jae-Hoon as a zombie
Kim O-Bok as a zombie
Myeong Seung-Hun as a zombie

Get To Know the Lead Characters

Gang Dong-Won as Jung-Seok who plays the role of a brave man who accepted the offer of a Chinese citizen to recover a truck full of bags containing millions of dollars. Jung-Seok was once a captain soldier before rerouting to Hongkong. Dong-Won achieved his goal to show versatility in this film. In comparison with his previous projects such as the Romance of their own” and “My Brilliant Life”.

Lee Jung-Hyun as Min-Jung, a mother of two children. She plays the role of a strong woman who survives the zombie outbreak for four years, together with her children and “Commander”. She is one of the characters that might make you cry because of her love and care for Joon-Yi and Yoo-Jin. Lee Jung-Hyun’s professionalism in acting was proven effective. She never failed to play the role in any of her films. One of the most popular Kdramas that she starred is “The Battleship Island” 2017.

Lee Re as Joon-Yi, Min-Jung’s older child. She highlighted the action part of the movie. She drives like a professional racer and she acts like a well-trained army.

Lee Ye-Won as Yoo-Jin, Min-Jung’s younger daughter that was awakened at an early age to survive from the zombie outbreak in the peninsula. She is Joon-Yi’s ally whenever they went out to get some foods or batteries for Mr.Kim’s radio.

Kwon Hae-Hyo as Mr. Kim or Commander, he lives with Min-Jung and her daughters. Mr. Kim always asks for batteries whenever either of the girls go out.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the content may contain spoilers.

Plot

In Peninsula: Train to Busan 2, Jung-Seok and three other survivors of the zombie outbreak happened 4 years ago, was sent to Korea’s peninsula wherein they’re tasked to bring the truck loaded with millions of dollars back to Hongkong. The Chinese nationals offered them 2.5 million US dollars each, if they succeed the said mission. At first, Jung-Seok disagreed because it was too risky. But Goo Chool-Min, his dead sister’s husband, convinced him.

On their quest for the truck, it was after the sundown, because the zombies were blind in the dark. They passed by multiple trucks until they saw the truck with plate number 6431. As they are about to leave with the truck containing the money, someone lighted their road with some light crackers to destruct them and for the zombies to notice them. It was unit 631 who lighted up the road. Unit 631 is a group of survivors, some of them were once soldiers or an army. In that encounter, only Jung-Seok was saved by Joon-Yi and Yoo-Jin. While Chool-Min was trapped inside the trailer of the truck. And the other two died. Jung-Seok was brought to a safe place that used to be Joon-Yi, Yoo-Jin, Min-Jung, and Mr. Kim’s home since the outbreak started. And his friend, Goo Chool-Min was brought to the Unit 631’s compound. He was treated like a wild dog, they watch him together with the other prisoners while chasing by the zombies as their entertainment.

The captain of Unit 631 finds out that the truck with the money was supposed to be brought out of the country. He discovered that because of the satellite radio left in the truck. So he planned to escape the compound with the truck so that he could be saved. While the captain is planning, Jung-Seok and Min-Jung decided to get the truck out of the compound and used it to saved themselves. Jung-Seok and Min-Jung drove the truck out of the compound but they were followed by unit 631 and they tried to destruct them. They even called the attention of the zombies by turning on the spotlight attached to their vehicles. But in the end, the captain was the one who succeeded and destructed them by bumping his car to Joo-Yin’s car and he shot Mr. Kim. He drove the truck to the port where they agreed to go. But he was betrayed by the Chinese and killed him. While Jung-Seok, Min-Jung, Yoo-Jin, and Joon-Yi saw a rescuer. They run after it and used firecrackers to be noticed. And they were rescued by “Jane”, Mr. Kim’s friend.

Peninsula: Train to Busan 2 Review

More adventure! More twist! And more action!

Some of us may think that the Peninsula is the continuation of the 2016 film Train to Busan. But it’s quite far from it and with a different side of the story. The story revolves around the survivors that were brought in Hongkong and the survivors that were left in Korea after the zombie outbreak that started 4 years ago. Jung-Seok together with the other survivors that were brought in Hongkong experienced discrimination. While the survivors left in Korea formed a group named “Unit 631”. I love how this movie showed extreme actions not just between humans and zombies but also between the survivors. The moves of Jung-Seok as a former soldier was well done. Hence, Joon-Yi made it more action-centered. I also would like to highlight the march or waves of zombies that will surely make you nervous while watching. And if you are touched with the story from Train to Busan, you might need some tissues while watching the Peninsula. The characters were also well-chosen, they portray their roles realistically that made the movie more pragmatic. I am certain that you will also be shocked by the twists in this film. Unanswered questions from Train to Busan will be answered in the Peninsula. What happened to those who were left in the peninsula? Where did the survivors go? And what happened to Korea after the outbreak?

I highly recommend this movie for those who seek for action horror films. This movie hits its goal to meet the audiences’ satisfaction for action and drama. It will make you nervous and also touch your hearts by the sacrifices that was shown in this movie.