Península(2020)
Same premise but whole different movie
Of course, SPOILERS!
Yeon Sang-ho's 'Peninsula' depicts dramatised view of the current international society which is aching with global COVID19 pandemic. Seemingly open border between countries can be easily shutdown. Ethical, social and political civilization accumulated for centuries can easily be destroyed when facing sheer terror of virus. Also, watching hundreds of Koreans seeking refuge in Hong Kong is bizarre, considering in reality it is many Hongkongers who seek democratic asylum after chinese martial law declaration.
However, this social depiction merely serves as the introduction of situation and it seems that director himself does not wishes to pursue this social satire furthermore. In the same sense, the usual emotion-breaking sequence we can easily see in many Korean films also steps in as mere functional plot point. It is almost mechanical structure that director squeezes in order to fake more conventional, 'safe' narrative to satisfy corporate investors/distributors to get their final approval.
The plot starts as if it is a money-heist then takes a quick drift turn(literally) to 'Mad Max:Fury Road' style action flick. Director Yeon drops his acute satire toward society we saw in his previous animation feature and fills the story with dynamic action.T his is a similar attitude we already saw from 'Train to Busan', but with more wide, cathartic driving.
Of course the zombie action largely driven by car chase gives exact amount of thrill needed and it is really well shot. One can argue that it has mediocre characters and tention to be overwhelmed and on a personal note, I DO agree that the 'supposed protagonist' is weak as a character. Aside from him having military background, the character didn't have anything to give to plot other than action sequence. The relationship between Jung-seok and Min-jeong felt forced and all those car chases was focused on Min-jeong's pseudo-family.
Still, the whole dynamic and rhythm is well managed to catch the audience's attention. In general, it fully accomplishes its purpose and considering it is long awaited visit to the theater it is a real treat.
