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Peninsula (2020)

★½ — Peninsula (2020)

Peninsula is the follow-up to Yeon Sang-ho's Train to Busan (2016), the South Korean zombie thriller that became a genuine international phenomenon and one of the highest-grossing Korean films ever released abroad. Yeon had originally worked in animation (his 2016 prequel Seoul Station was released alongside Train to Busan) before the live-action film made him a name well beyond the domestic market. Peninsula is not strictly a sequel but a standalone story set in the same world, produced on a significantly larger budget of $17 million, reflecting the commercial confidence Next Entertainment World placed in the property. It was one of the first major Korean films to complete production and secure a wide international release during the Covid-19 pandemic, opening in dozens of markets in mid-2020 when cinemas were only partially operational.

Train to Busan Peninsula (2020) is a baffling step down from its predecessor. A chaotic, tonally confused mess that trades the emotional depth and tight suspense of Train to Busan for over-the-top action, cringey CGI, and a plot that feels like Mad Max directed by someone who’s never seen Mad Max. Set four years after the original outbreak, it follows a former soldier (Gang Dong-won) returning to a quarantined, zombie-ravaged Korean peninsula on a dangerous mission for cash. It quickly devolves into a bloated, exhausting spectacle with no heart. The car chases are absurd (wasteland drifts, flip stunts, and slow-mo explosions straight out of a video game cutscene) but they’re so drenched in fake-looking CGI that none of it feels real or thrilling. The zombies, once terrifying, are reduced to background noise, barely a threat compared to the human villains: a bizarre cult-like militia that speaks in riddles and wears tribal paint while driving souped-up hatchbacks. Even worse are the drawn-out dramatic scenes that drag on far too long without earning any emotional payoff. The film can’t decide if it wants to be a breakneck action flick or a heartfelt drama, so it tries to be both and fails at both. A soulless, noisy, poorly written disaster. Not scary, not exciting, not moving. Just a total shit show. Stick to Train to Busan and skip this unnecessary, overblown sequel.

Rating: ★½ | Year: 2020 | Watched: 2025-10-27

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Where to watch (UK)

Stream: STUDIOCANAL PRESENTS Apple TV Channel · Studiocanal Presents Amazon Channel
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK

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