Peninsula
Starring Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun and Koo Kyo-hwan
Rated MA15+
An action-focused spin-off of the 2016 South Korean zombie thriller Train to Busan, Peninsula is an exciting, well-structured film, but not quite as good as its predecessor.
Former Marine Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won) joins a small team to retrieve a truck full of money from infested Seoul, four years after a devastating zombie outbreak.
Peninsula’s premise is notably similar to Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, but Peninsula has much better characters and more robust suspense.
Haunted by loss and inaction during the initial outbreak, Jung-seok has an engaging journey of redemption, and Lee Jung-hyun is a compelling action lead as Min-jung, a mother determined to get her children out of fallen Seoul. Every major character has an active role in the plot, unlike the several redundant characters in Army of the Dead.
Jung-seok, Min-jung and conniving Unit 631 militia leader Captain Seo (Koo Kyo-hwan) converge and clash over the focal point of the money truck, and Unit 631 is a cruel, intelligent threat beyond the mindless zombie hordes. However, the film has a camp streak that may put off some viewers.
The action sequences are tense and generally well-executed, but the climax features an out-of-place Mad Max-style car chase. Despite many cool moments, the chase feels silly due to its over-the-top stunts and floaty CGI.
Peninsula is a fun, suspenseful character-driven zombie action film that loses its way slightly by the end, and is available on DVD and iTunes.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
