Peninsula Movie Review: Train to Busan Sequel Gets a Mixed Response From Critics

Train To Busan: Peninsula has opened in select Asian theatres. The movie was scheduled to premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2020 but it was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. The movie has received mixed reviews from the critics. But the unanimous word is that the movie is not better than Train To Busan. Peninsula was anyway not a direct sequel but a standalone film in the Train To Busan universe. Now, while you wait for your chance to watch this horror zombie gore-fest, here are a few reviews that can get you all hyped up. Spoiler-free reviews, so read on. Train to Busan Presents Peninsula Trailer: Looks Fun but Lacks the Original Vibe (Watch Video).

Comicbook.com wrote, "A lot of care, craft, and thought clearly went into this entire experience, but too much of it leans on what inspired the director in the development and not enough on his own take on that material. There’s also two major things missing from the first film in this movie." The publication pointed out that "relentless pacing" and "emotional throughline of the plot" were missing. Train to Busan Presents Peninsula Trailer: Get Ready to Ride Through a Post-Apocalyptic World Full of Zombies (Watch Video).

IndieWire was not impressed by the movie. They wrote, "It’s only during the third act that it really starts to feel like Yeon’s pockets aren’t deep enough for what he’s trying to do. Before that, most of the movie is devoted to lame dialogue scenes between kooky characters in cramped ruins who just want to find a way out of this story altogether."

Den Of Geek was impressed by the technical aspects of the film. "With a less than captivating story and cast to watch, you’ll instead start ticking off the many other films that Peninsula borrows from," they wrote, adding, "But what is more disappointing is director Yeon borrows from his own previous film, trying desperately during Peninsula’s climax to wring the same kind of poignant response from the death of a character that he achieved effortlessly in the finale of Train to Busan."

Bloody Disgusting appreciated the movie, "Outside of the recurring themes of sacrifice and atonement, Peninsula presents an interesting depiction of xenophobia and abandonment." They added, "This sequel goes full-throttle on the blockbuster spectacle, making for an exhilarating feature that exists in a heightened reality. Some of the novelty has worn off, however."

Variety wrote, "Huge chunks of the movie are dedicated to bonkers cross-city chase scenes that feel like the CG equivalent of vintage “Speed Racer” sequences, as digitally rendered vehicles drift along frictionless roads. But it seems a waste to make a zombie movie, only to reduce the lumbering brain-eaters to faceless machine-gun fodder, or roadkill splattered against the windshield of speeding SUVs."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 18, 2020 04:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).