Reviews by johanlefourbe

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I don’t think it was nothing really groundbreaking. However, I have to admit that it was still a really solid zombie flick though. Basically, it turned out to be pretty much a Korean version of ‘The Walking Dead’ but, to be honest, even though the fans might argue otherwise, I don’t think it didn’t add anything really new to the genre though. I mean, sure, I have to admit it was clever how they managed to set most of the action on this train but, still, I don’t think it was really ground-breaking. On the other hand, there is no doubt that the whole thing was very well made and it was definitely a really entertaining ride. Furthermore, even though the characters were all rather stereotypical, they still worked though and, for some reasons, I had a weak spot for Soo-an thanks to Su-an Kim who gave here a solid performance. Above all, this cute little girl reminded me somehow of a (girl)friend I had in high-school who was born in South-Korea and had been adopted by a French couple. Concerning her father who was basically the main character, his evolution was actually rather generic and predictable but it was still effective. On top of that, I did appreciate how they displayed that, by always focusing and even obsessing on wealth and social status, we are often losing track on what’s actually really important in life. Concerning the director Sang-ho Yeon, I haven’t seen anything else from this guy but since it seems to be his best movie so far, maybe I didn’t miss much. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't completely blow me away, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Since I’m a big fan of Paul Newman and since this movie is one of his most famous movies, I was really eager to check it out and I had some really high expectations. Well, eventually, even though I did like it, to be honest, I didn’t really blow me away after all. I mean, sure, it was well made and quite entertaining but, in my opinion, the whole thing was just too conventional.  I don’t know, maybe I have seen too many movies about the same subject that were released afterwards. Still, there is no doubt that Paul Newman gave a really strong performance and he is probably the reason why this movie has such a great reputation. Indeed, at first, you might think that he is going to be your typical macho hero but he went much beyond that delivering a complex and really conflicted character. Basically, from the beginning until the end, you are never really sure what’s the deal with this guy. I could relate with him in the sense that I never cared about discipline and rules myself and I always got in trouble at school and, to a lesser extent, even at work, but the big difference between me and Luke is that I always had a rather healthy survival instinct. As a result, I usually knew when to stop in order to prevent some completely unfixable damages. On the other hand, Luke didn’t seem to care much about anything and displayed a total lack of self-preservation and, in spite of his awesome charisma, Newman managed to deliver one of the most destructive anti-hero I have seen. Anyway, to conclude, even though the movie itself was nothing really amazing, Paul Newman was just terrific and, only for him, the damned thing is definitely worth a look.