The first few seconds of the Train to Busan: Peninsula trailer clearly established that it will be very different from its predecessor.
Highlights
- KinoCheck International dropped the much-awaited Train to Busan 2 trailer on April 2nd.
- As the official local film title suggests — 반도 or Peninsula in English— the sequel will be scaled up, i.e. from fighting zombies inside an express train to blowing them up in arenas and the streets.
- Train to Busan: Peninsula is directed by Yeon Sang Ho (연상호) and stars Gang Dong Won (강동원), Lee Jung Hyun (이정현), and Kwon Hae Hyo (권해효).
- If you like Korean films and intend to visit Seoul or Busan in the future, you can plan your trip with WAUG — the No. 1 travel activity booking platform from South Korea. Aside from experiences abroad, you can also get discounted vouchers for restaurants and attractions in and around your area.
Explore more: Japan Travel Ban: Which Countries are Restricted Entry?
Thoughts After Watching the ‘Train to Busan: Peninsula’ Trailer
I’d generally pick another superhero movie over a zombie flick, but Train to Busan — the original from 2016 — made me give the sub-genre a chance. With so many positive reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 93% (audience score at 83%), it’s clear that the Korean film got it right. It was one of those nail-biting movies, which made me pause my viewing at least three times to either guess what happens next or relieve myself from being stunned. The movie was such a delight that I went on a trip to experience the KTX train ride from Seoul to Busan and explore the coastal city’s attractions, including the Songdo Marine Cable Car that should be on any visitor’s bucket list.
With the announcement of a sequel some time ago, I honestly didn’t know if it was a good idea to reopen a narrative that seemed close to perfection. However, after watching the newly-out trailer for Peninsula (see below), I definitely feel that I wouldn’t want to miss it when it’s shown on August 2020. Here are some of my thoughts about it:
1. The sequel will be a lot darker.
I mean this in two ways, but before the explanation, take a look at the following trailers of Train to Busan and its upcoming sequel:
Here’s the trailer for Train to Busan: Peninsula:
Now let’s compare both. If you’ve watched Train to Busan in full, you might have noticed that it mostly ran on a single-day timeline and a bulk of its scenes were in broad daylight. The visual tone was bright, which was fitting to show how the zombie outbreak happened in an ordinary day. On the other hand, the Train to Busan 2 trailer was completely in contrast, which is appropriate for the premise that the country met its demise after failing to contain the living dead. Here’s the synopsis for Peninsula:
Four years after South Korea’s total decimation in Train to Busan, the zombie thriller that captivated audiences worldwide, acclaimed director Yeon Sang-ho brings us Peninsula, the next nail-biting chapter in his post-apocalyptic world. Jung Seok, a soldier who previously escaped the diseased wasteland, relives the horror when assigned to a covert operation with two simple objectives: retrieve and survive. When his team unexpectedly stumbles upon survivors, their lives will depend on whether the best—or worst—of human nature prevails in the direst of circumstances.
KinoCheck International
But aside from the apparent difference in color grade, the Train to Busan sequel deals with a bleaker survival theme — a full-blown, post-apocalyptic world where life is luxury. From fleeing from zombies and hitting them with a bat, we now see high-tech weapons and fighting arenas — signs that society has hit rock bottom, if not completely vanquished. I expect Peninsula to pack more action (the car chases in the sequel’s trailer felt like I was watching Fast & Furious), and it’ll be very interesting to see how the protagonists would endeavor to come out into the light.
2. South Korea is no longer recognizable.
What I like about the prequel is that it showed a bit of what it’s like to traverse the peninsula. While around 90% of the scenes (my estimate) happened inside the train and there’s only very little culture appreciation to take from this, I still think it contributed to the popularity of the KTX, the Seoul to Busan route, and even Busan as a tourist destination in recent years.
The zombies-on-a-train apocalypse movie was the biggest Korean movie in Taiwan last year. It saw accumulated sales of TWD 10 million, around USD 332,000, and encouraged many Taiwanese tourists to take the train from Seoul to Busan.
KOREA.NET
However, the Train to Busan 2 trailer showed no trace of South Korea as we know it (not even a KTX train!), and I’m not even sure if its identity as a state is still in tact in the movie. It’ll be so epic, though, if they show some iconic palaces (Kingdom, much?) within the country that succumbed to the harsh environment.
If you want to get familiar with sites that truly hold Korea’s charm, you can start with Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul or this culture village in Busan that’s built on the foot of a mountain.
3. There’s a new kid on the block.
There’s nothing childlike with the armed character of Jung Seok who’s played by Kang Dong Won, but the new protagonist of Train to Busan already gives off that vibe that he’s ready to fight to the death. The character played by Gong Yoo in the prequel had considerable depth (a fund manager who’s aloof to his own daughter), and this was a thick layer that defined the story. For Train to Busan 2, while we definitely couldn’t know Jung Seok’s arc yet, the synopsis is already very telling. I’m excited to see how the soldier-on-a-mission will try to ‘escape the apocalypse’.
4. “Were you scared?”
This was one of the two lines in the Train to Busan: Peninsula trailer, and somehow it stuck on me as it was a little girl that said it to the distraught main character.
5. Will this be just another zombie flick?
I thought hard about this after watching the preview a couple of times. Based on the material, I feel like it could go either ways. However, knowing that the same Korean director Yeon Sang Ho is behind the Train to Busan: Peninsula movie makes me feel more excited than nervous.
‘Train to Busan: Peninsula’ Trailer Reactions
How’s the Twitter world reacting to the Train to Busan 2 teaser? Check out the public tweets we’ve found:
Train to Busan is such an intense movie can’t wait for part 2!!
— IRISH (@rossirishg) April 7, 2020
The Peninsula(Train to Busan 2) trailer literally scared me.#Peninsula
— Lauraphoria 💛|| Loona’s first win♥️|| (@Ser3ndipityBear) April 2, 2020
train to busan 2 storyline looks like a mixture of world war z and walking dead
— cris 🤓📚 (@yenaissaduck) April 2, 2020
A little extra
Did you know that Choi Woo Sik from Parasite appeared on Train to Busan?
Couldn’t place why Choi woo sik was so familiar and just remembered he was in TRAIN TO BUSAN!!!!!!!!!!!!
— kayean ✿ (@kayeannnn) February 18, 2020
Oh, before you go, if you’re doing home quarantine due to COVID-19, now might be a good time to make your future staycation plans or travel bucket list! Download WAUG on your phone and start browsing activities near you!
