Review: ‘Peninsula,’ the highly anticipated ‘Train to Busan’ sequel, never goes off the rails

Scene from the South Korean zombie film, ‘Peninsula.” Photo: WellGo USA

Yeon Sang-ho’s 2016 film “Train to Busan” was a cinematic joyride, a kinetic take on the zombie genre and an adrenaline rush that heralded a major new talent. So fans were excited when news filtered out that Sang-ho was planning a sequel to his story of passengers stuck on a bullet train full of zombies.

“Busan” stands firmly on its own, requiring neither addition nor expansion. Of course, there are sequels that are up to the standard set by their predecessors or are even better: “The Godfather: Part II,” “The Road Warrior,” “Aliens” and — within the world of movies about the undead — “Dawn of the Dead” that all come to mind.

Sadly, “Peninsula,” Sang-ho’s hotly anticipated return to his “Busan” universe, is not one of them.

With its bigger budget and wider scope but less gripping story, “Peninsula” is much more of a generic, CGI-reliant action movie that often feels like a video game coupled with a few pages ripped from the scripts of “Mad Max” and “Escape From New York.” And even the impact of the action set pieces are blunted by the fact that they are cloaked in darkness, as “Peninsula” is mostly set at night.

The movie takes place four years after the first film, when the zombie virus was just beginning to spread across South Korea. Now, the country has been decimated, abandoned and quarantined, left to the undead and some hardy humans scavenging to survive, like small mammals scurrying in the shadows of dinosaurs.

But there was a lot of money and wealth left behind, including an armored truck on a freeway ferrying $20 million. Since zombies don’t need any disposable income, criminals living in Hong Kong — where many South Korean refugees struggle in squalor as second-class citizens — figure what’s the harm in sneaking in and taking it, right? But they’ll have to do it at night because, as established in “Train to Busan,” zombies can’t see in the dark.

‘Train to Busan’ director Yeon Sang-ho revives zombies again with ‘Peninsula’

A scene from the South Korean zombie film “Peninsula.” Photo: WellGo USA

Hired to lead the group is Jung Seok (Gang Dong-won), a former marine captain still haunted by the fact that — when he was fleeing the country four years prior — he had left a pleading family on the side of the road as zombie chow. Assisting him is his equally tormented brother-in-law Chul-min (Kim Do-yoon), a man who lost his wife and son as the zombie infection spread on one of the ships evacuating South Koreans to Hong Kong. (That scene, as more passengers turn, is one of the film’s most effective. Maybe Sang-ho should only make films set within the confines of modes of transportation?)

What Seok hasn’t counted on is that many of the living remaining in South Korea are more dangerous than the zombies. They belong to a gang of marauders called Unit 361, led by the villainous Capt. Seo (Koo Gyo-hwan) and Sgt. Hwang (Kim Min-jae). The zombies then become incidental, taking a backseat to a group of not particularly compelling bad guys.

And here’s where the “Mad Max” connection comes in. Seo and Hwang oversee a bloodsport where captured humans are put into an MMA-style cage and then zombies are let loose. Good times.

But little of it packs any emotional punch and there are only occasional flashes of the suspense that made “Train to Busan” so thrillingly electric. There’s also little of the political aspect of the first film, in which it was implied that the outbreak was sparked by some corporate malfeasance.

For viewers who really want to revisit this world, they’d be better off just watching “Train to Busan” again because, unlike “Peninsula,” it never goes off the rails.

K“Peninsula”: Starring Dong-Won Gang, Jung-hyun Lee, Kim Do-yoon, Koo Gyo-hwan, Kim Min-jae and Re Lee. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho. (Not rated. 116 minutes.) Opens in select theaters nationwide Friday, Aug. 21, with screenings at West Wind Capitol Drive-In, 3630 Hillcap Ave., San Jose.

  • Cary Darling
    Cary Darling Cary Darling is the arts and entertainment editor at the Houston Chronicle.