Directed by: Yeon Sang-ho (연상호) Starring: Gang Dong-won (강동원), Lee Jung-hyun (이정현), Lee Re (이레), Kwon Hae-hyo (권해효), Kim Min-jae (김민재), Koo Kyo-hwan (구교환) Release Date: July 15th, 2020
The zombie genre had been virtually absent from the Korean cinema landscape prior to 2016 when writer/director Yeon Sang-ho showed the world that Korea was more than capable of advancing the genre with his impactful double feature Train to Busan and and its animated counterpart Seoul Station. The years following saw the birth of the successful Netflix series Kingdom as well as the ambitious zombie-esque feature Rampant (2018) set during the historical time of Joseon. And after season two of Kingdom premiering earlier this year, the Train to Busan sequel, Peninsula has arrived just weeks after the social media inspired zombie survival film #Alive (2020) starring Yoo Ah-in. So for those who haven’t already succumbed to zombie fatigue and are willing to check their brains at the door, the periodic thrills and bizarre world of eccentric characters might make for just enough gas left in the tank to get you out of Peninsula alive.
Four years after the events in Train to Busan, the Korean peninsula has been largely abandoned. A former solider who survived the initial outbreak, Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won), now living as a refugee with unrecognized status in Hong Kong, takes up a lucrative yet extremely risky offer from an organized crime syndicate to secretly return to the peninsula to recover a large sum of money just sitting in trucks along the highway that were abandoned during the evacuation.
When Jung-seok and his crew arrive on the apocalyptic peninsula, they quickly discover that navigating a ravenous horde of zombies to recover the money will be only half of their problem — as they must also survive the clutches of a brutal group of men who have established a chaotic and violent tribal state while living among the zombies. With the help of a family who has miraculously survived the chaos, the crew just might have a slim chance of making it out alive.
While Peninsula occupies the same world as Train to Busan and Seoul Station, the overall vibe of the film feels much more in line with the bleaker tones of Seoul Station or even the director’s earlier animated works The King of Pigs (2011) and The Fake (2013). Like these films, Peninsula deals not only the physical endurance of the men and women fighting to survive their lots in life, but the mental endurance as well.
The psychological toll builds up to a point that often takes characters in Peninsula on a one-way trip into uncharted waters. Practically every character, both good and bad, find themselves face to face with their breaking points in the film. This dark human drama aspect of the film, although told through a rather outlandish lens, felt to be the side of the film that the director had the most focus and control over.
Stylistically, Peninsula is a mishmash of some the best in the survival horror and action genres. Think Land of the Dead meets Escape from New York meets Mad Max. It even has a bit of James Cameron’s Aliens in the structure of the story. If familiar with any of these films though, Peninsula will be predictable to a point that becomes one of its main weaknesses, and viewers will have to make peace with that if they’re planning to get much enjoyment here.
Somehow, I was able to find the sweet spot in which I was able to really get into the vibe of Peninsula. For instance, there’s a militia-lead final outpost of human civilization amidst the zombie infested nation that’s controlled by these crazed warlord types (think the goons from Fist of the North Star or the 90’s action flop Double Dragon). These guys are so crazy and extreme it’s actually cartoonish at times. But something about Peninsula allowed me to not take it too seriously and embrace these guys as part of a broader package of almost B-movie charm.
This letting go helped me to enjoy the the various action set pieces in Peninsula despite some of the crude special effects making the film feel like a video game at times. But whether it was the Mad Max inspired car chases down zombie lane or Gang Dong-won blasting his way through baddies like John Wick as the protagonist of a Resident Evil or House of the Dead video game, I surprised myself with several smiles that burst onto my face while watching the chaos unfold. So those looking for a heavy dose of action survival, look no further. Peninsula is like a dark roller coaster ride through hell with enough speed and loops to send chills of enjoyment down the spines of even the most seasoned action aficionados.
The zombies in Peninsula are brutal and scary but easily outsmarted when taking advantage of their known weaknesses. And the zombie threat ultimately ends up taking a back seat to the unhinged militia group who is also out for some blood of their own. Occupying key territory that the protagonists must navigate for essential items, the zombie gladiator games they put on make for some mindless but fairly intriguing action sequences that offer a twisted take on the depravity that arises during the breakdown of civilization.
The heart of Peninsula lies with a family who has defied the odds by surviving amidst the zombie apocalypse. But the family dynamics never quite click since the little screen time they get is more focused on action set pieces than actual character development. The child characters in particular come across as very cute and even cool as they showcase their dominance over the zombies with their professional stunt and RC car driving, but the dark and extremely violent apocalyptic movie suddenly becomes an amped up Spy Kids for thirty minutes.
Other characters come across as frustratingly dumb at times. Like when a petite woman explores the broken window sound coming from her basement in a horror movie, the audience was shaking their heads at the backwards logic present in some of the character’s actions. Carrying assault rifles and driving cars with the full knowledge that zombies are attracted to sound was an odd way to kick-off their journey. Making a stealthier entrance would have not only given them some much needed brains, but it would have also increased the tension of navigating the dark and dangerous streets. Instead, characters either do things that ensure their death or create a one in a million survival opportunity. And when they continue to survive these odds the tension in each scene begins to fade after every scary encounter.
The nighttime scenes in Peninsula also feel much too bright to create a sufficient sense of dread and anxiety while its characters navigate the zombie infested roadways. The picture often looks like one of those really old films that shot its nighttime scenes during the day due to restrictions within the camera technology.
It was always going to be difficult for Peninsula to live up to the expectations set by Train to Busan. Not only did Train to Busan have a unique concept of being stuck aboard a train during zombie outbreak, its gruesome and ferocious zombies were packaged alongside some signature Korean melodrama that brought a unique flavor to the genre that allowed so many of us to hop board. And like Seoul Station (released alongside Train to Busan), Peninsula is world-sharing but features an unconnected story with an entirely different roster of characters and actors. There is no coat tailing on previously established emotional connections that you get with standard sequel films. Viewers will have to be swept up and carried away from scratch to even have a chance of matching the original. That’s a hell of a task for any film or filmmaker to undertake, so I respect the ambition of the film to expand the world in this way to create its own sort of zombie cinematic universe. I for one am very much looking forward to further installments!
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