Quentin Tarantino Hates This Sequel to a Zombie Horror Classic: “It’s terrible”
Train to Busan is, without a doubt, the greatest zombie movie of the last decade, possibly two. I can think of a few rivals for maybe even the century. Alongside 28 Days Later and [REC], Train to Busan fundamentally reanimated a once-dead genre, especially in a post-The Walking Dead world broadly fatigued by the undead. It’s because of Train to Busan’s influence that we got titles like #Alive and Virus:32, both of which are among my favorites from this current decade. Zombies are back and better than ever.
Mostly. While Train to Busan is a favorite among many, including filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino remarked, “When it came out I was like, ‘there is no way I can watch another zombie movie or infected people movie, I just can’t do it anymore’, and I was wrong.”
That was a common sentiment, and Train to Busan was so good, the long-gestating rumors of an American remake weren’t as poorly received as remakes often are (even if our infrastructure doesn’t really make sense for the plot of the film). While that remains in development hell, director Yeon Sang-ho did return to direct both a sequel and an animated prequel. Neither were well received, especially by Quentin Tarantino, and you can see for yourself why now on Shudder.
Per Shudder: 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.
That’s a beefy logline for a beefy movie that arguably has too much going on. I didn’t hate it, but despite having Yeon Sang-ho in the director’s chair, Peninsula feels almost entirely isolated from the first. There’s no train, some Mad Max-style apocalyptic shenanigans, and some really shaky visual effects that cheapen what would otherwise be pretty sick moments.
Quentin Tarantino agrees. Despite loving the first film, the famed filmmaker remarked of the sequel, “It’s terrible. I mean, terrible. And it looks like it cost five times what Train to Busan cost. It’s terrible. Not only that, not only is it terrible, he’s trying to make Mad Max: Fury Road, but a bad bad Mad Max: Fury Road, so it’s Mad Max: Train to Busan.” Brutal words, Tarantino.
I wouldn’t go that far, and I even think it’s still worth checking out. Just keep your expectations in check. Director Yeon Sang-ho tried to, since he was very clear during filming, that Peninsula was not going to be a direct continuation of the first in any traditional sense. If you do check it out, let me know what you think over on Twitter @Chadiscollins. We can board the train together.
Categorized:News
