Seoul Station shows a more realistic side of a zombie outbreak. The side that we all like to think “wouldn’t be me” in that situation. Billed as the prequel to Train to Busan, Seoul Station also focuses on a train station and the surrounding area. There are many underlying tones to this movie as well – such as how the homeless are treated. This is quite a powerful movie on many levels. Seoul Station also continues the argument that animation for adults doesn’t have to be stupid. Get ready because there are twists and turns abound.
Life was normal, somewhat normal
We are introduced to three main characters rather quickly in Seoul Station. Suk-gyu is the father of Hye-sun who is dating Ki-woong. Hye-sun has run away and has been living on the streets with her boyfriend. They are just like any young couple; they have money and personal problems. For one, Hye-sun is a former brothel worker and Ki-woong wants her to turn just a few deadbeats. He tries to justify it as ‘just getting through this month’ and he will then get a regular job. Yeah, Ki-woong is a winner alright.Suk-gyu, just like any father, is worried about his daughter and concerned over not knowing where she is. An unnamed person calls Suk-gyu and alerts him to Hye-sun being on an escort type site. He arranges a meetup with Ki-woong who is trying to buy time at the meetup (remember, Hye-sun doesn’t want to do it).
Just under the surface chaos is boiling
As this is going on, Seoul Station simultaneously follows the situation of a homeless man and his older friend. The older friend was bitten by something and is obviously not well. He stumbles to his sleeping spot for the night. The younger friend rushes all over the area trying to get help. From the homeless shelter/medical center to a pharmacy. He finally gets some meds at the pharmacy, but it is too late, his friend has passed away.Shaken by this situation, he convinces the homeless shelter/medical center staff to verify his friend’s death. Upon arriving, they see that there is only a blood stain on the ground where the man once lay. Mocking the homeless man, the staff leave.
The younger man is visibly shaken as he is ordered to leave the area because the station is closing for the night. He encounters his older friend in an alleyway and moves to confront him. Realizing too late that this is not his friend, we are left to presume he is now one of the undead.
All hell breaks loose further separating father and daughter
Hye-sun is first among the trio to encounter the zombies as she joins a group running from them. She ends up in a cell at a police station with two homeless men and an officer. The officer having been bitten is not in the greatest state of mind.Hye-sun literally attempts to throw the homeless men under the bus to saver her own hide. She says “she is not like them; she is not homeless” like her life means more than theirs because of her position in life. The officer looks at her bare feet and calls her out while pointing the gun at her.
This scene speaks volumes for how the homeless are looked at in society. There are other scenes leading up to this that also attempt that statement. The officer situation caught me more direct though.
Hye-sun ends up escaping the police station by following one of the homeless men through the station. So much for “being better than them”.
The zombies that inhabit Seoul Station are different
First, these are not really any one kind of zombie. They are stupid in they just lurch around. They are deadly quick and accurate when spotting prey. They also are receptive as they don’t just lumber around, they experience their environment. This means they look around and have some attention capabilities. Once on prey they are quick and will almost work together to capture their next dinner. The closest zombies I can think of are the ones in World War Z.They are also incredibly death resilient as we find out from Suk-gyu’s first encounter. It takes many hits for the zombie to go down. Many sickly sounding hits to the head.
These zombies work a lot like other zombies though. The horde mentality is strong with them. If one triggers on something, most around it will follow suit. This makes these zombies incredibly deadly in large packs.
Much like other movie zombies though, they do not possess the ability to operate doors or ladders. This makes evading them easier but not too easy – think of the situations you face daily for instance.
Connections to Train to Busan
There aren’t any. Yep, a movie billed as a “prequel” doesn’t feature anything connecting it to the “sequel”. Not even in a Capcom fighting game loose string way either. Other than similar locations, train stations and South Korea, there are no connections between the two movies.
This makes me think the marketing team behind Seoul Station were probably not confident. They needed something to help them sleep at night, so they concocted the “prequel” angle.
This is sad because Seoul Station is damn good on its own. Afterall, how else can you view it? It is a stand-alone entry in South Korea being overrun by zombies. No need to call it a prequel to Train to Busan and hope fans of that will watch this.
This is a zombie movie
That means there is truly no happy ending here. It is a mess of a situation and it sucks for everyone involved. Seoul Station also puts front and center what most of us would do in these situations. We would either e blithering idiots, scared to death, or the select few will be “tough”.
The usual zombie action is here in full force. The big difference here is the twists and turns that the characters experience. I won’t ruin them for you but man, some situations they face are downright horrible. These situations are almost more horrible than being bitten.
While I hate subtitled entertainment, I found Seoul Station was not nearly as tough to follow. I have tried other subtitled content like Attack on Titan and found myself getting lost. That didn’t happen with this movie. I think that is partly due to the pacing of the action. Parts you need to read and pay attention are slower paced. Action packed scenes don’t have a lot of text to bother with.
All in all, Seoul Station was a great zombie flick that I will watch again. I caught it on Vudu (free with ads) but you can also watch it ad-free on Amazon Prime. Either one is a great option and I believe both have Train to Busan as well.