The hype around this movie began picking up speed in May after it was heavily praised at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then, adverts are appearing on buses (not a trailer I'd want to spot while on the train) and it finally pulled in to cinemas last weekend. Many of the comparisons I heard before my viewing claimed 부산행 was the Korean World War Z however it's a movie that managed to follow some of the more traditional tropes of the genre. While I or the people I watched it with wouldn't label it a great movie, it was definitely fun and all of us left the theatre entertained.
If you do plan to catch it in the theatres, we could not find any that provided English subtitles. Regardless, the movie was easy-to-follow and, aside from one or two wordy scenes, subtitles were very much unnecessary if you know the following three phrases:
빨리 가! - Bbali Ga! - (Go Fast) HURRY!
빨리 와! - Bbali Wha! - (Come Fast) HURRY!
가지마! - Ga je ma! - (Don't go) Don't go!
The action definitely had a WWZ vibe, there were thrills, spills, no automobiles and one sequence had a hint of Snowpiercer. The characters were interesting throughout and there were a few laughs scattered within, pacing the tension well.
