- Aspect Ratio : 2.35:1
- MPAA rating : (Not Rated)
- Director : Yeon Sang-Ho
- Media Format : Dolby, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen
- Run time : 1 hour and 56 minutes
- Release date : November 24, 2020
- Actors : Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, John. D Micheals
- Subtitles: : English
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Korean (Dolby Digital 5.1)
- Studio : Well Go Usa
It wasn’t
until nearly two decades after Night of the Living Dead that George A.
Romero returned to the zombie genre with his first follow-up in the franchise, Dawn
of the Dead. As such, the series did not continue with any specific human
characters (which would have been difficult anyway, given the bleak lack of survivors),
but instead traced the progression of the zombie apocalypse as an allegory for
something larger. While the follow-up to hit South Korean zombie film, Train
to Busan, follows the same model of continuing the narrative, it lacks the impact
of Romero’s shifting social relevance. Instead, Peninsula feels more like
the traditional sequel, capitalizing on the success of the last film rather
than evolving from it.
It also feels
like a movie that studied Dawn of the Dead in deciding what direction to
take the sequel, focusing on the de-evolution of men in an apocalypse much more
than the zombies themselves. With the action amped up and a number of
post-apocalyptic car chases, one would not be mistaken in seeing similarities
to the Mad Max franchise as well. While this is endlessly diverting, a
reliance on computer generated imagery reduces the scope of some of these action
sequences to video game cutaway-scene-quality.
Although the
main portion of Peninsula’s plot takes place four years after the events
of the first film, it begins with an introduction to the outbreak through the eyes
of new characters. We join Captain Jung-seok (Dong-Won Gang) at the beginning
of the outbreak, a South Korean marine with special resources to save his sister
and her family before evacuation becomes impossible. Despite making it onto the
boat in time, an outbreak on board devastates his family, leaving only
Jung-seok and his brother-in-law (Do-Yoon Kim) alive. Four years later they are
stranded in Hong Kong, treated as social pariah because of where they come
from.
Korea is thought
to be lost to the zombie plague, and few have entered safely since borders were
closed up (in an unintentional, and ironic, parallel to the borders being
closed with news of the Coronavirus), until Jung-seok and his brother, Chul-min,
are hired to sneak through the border in a treasure-hunting mission. Little do
they know, but humanity has not been stamped out in the country, though it has
devolved into a civilization built on brutality and power struggles. After
being attacked by this army of scavenging humans, Jung-seok and Chul-min are
separated. While Chul-min is captured by the scavengers, Jung-seok is rescued
by a pair of resourceful sisters, Joon and Yu-jin (Re Lee and Ye-Won Lee), who take him back to
their mother, Min-jung (Jung-hyun Lee).
With a society
set up with inventive good guys and brutal bad guys, there isn’t nearly as much
need for the zombies in this narrative than was used for Train to Busan.
There are certainly still zombies, but they are rarely the only element in a
scene. More often than not, they are merely props in the action scenes between
the humans fighting each other. Sometimes this is effective, though the methods
of filmmaking often let the film down, as masses of CGI zombies are no more fun
to watch than the car chase scenes completed entirely in a computer. I don’t
know if it was a limited budget, rushing the film through post-production to
shorten the time between releases, or simply a shortcoming in South Korean CGI,
but these sequences are nearly enough to ruin what does work within the anticipated
sequel.
Despite an
over-emphasis on the visual spectacle, Peninsula simultaneously contains
elements of emotional melodrama that feels distinctly South Korean. At times this
contrast may feel a bit ridiculous, this also may be the most effective element
transferred over from the first installment. It is much easier to care about
the characters than it is the action, in this particular film.
The Blu-ray
release for Peninsula comes with a DVD copy of the film. The discs
themselves have interviews and a making-of featurette. There is also an
English-language track available, though subtitles are a preferable method for
viewing.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 5.5/10
Special Features: 5/10
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