MovieChat Forums > Busanhaeng (2016) Discussion > [SPOILER TALK] Plot-hole and illogical d...

[SPOILER TALK] Plot-hole and illogical decisions by characters?

posted 9 years ago by ronteque
19 replies | jump to latest

Overall it's a great film, an absolute thrill ride from start to finish and I can say I have seen a lot of zombie movies done a lot worst.

But I just cannot digest the illogical decisions made by some of the characters that has been bothering me.

1) The final scene with the surviving male and female classmates.

Ok the girl got bitten by her leg and she turned into a zombie almost immediately compared to other characters that actually took awhile before they went rabid. The main character remained composed even after getting bitten and could still talk for like 5 minutes and give her daughter a final goodbye... But the girl got bitten by the leg and lost control almost immediately! She didn't even talked to her guy?!

And why did the guy finally decide to just stay there and get bitten by her and die as well? He came such a long way but to just stay there and die? NO! At the beginning of the film he couldn't care less about the girl and now he just suddenly decides to die with her after going through hell to survive.

2) The final duel.. MC vs 1x Zombie

So the main character fought through dozens of zombies back in those train carriages to get to her daughter with two other dudes just fine and now he couldn't even throw that ONE annoying zombie out of the train? If that isn't bad enough, he decides to let the zombie bite at his hand..... WHAT?!

Overall, I enjoyed the film but these scenes in particular could have been done better..

[–] ShyIrene 9 years ago

Just my take on your thoughts:

1) I think the different timings of them turning into zombies is like the walking dead. Sometimes it takes someone 8 hours while it takes someone else just a few minutes. Of course, if this is the case, it wasn't explained at all in the film. But I'd like to think this is the case because I too also thought about this when I was watching these scenes.

As for the baseball boy. In the scene where he sees all of his teammates turned in the train, he doesn't help the MC nor the macho guy fight because he's so traumatized. He just stands there in shock. The girl dying was probably the last straw for him so he just decided to mourn there, not having the will to get up and walk out.

2) I actually think this scene was well done. The last zombie actually talked to him unlike the other zombies and he knew him a bit. The MC was never portrayed as well as a good fighter like the macho baby daddy but just punched the zombies around because he had to. The bite of his hand was accidental as you know, and I thoguht it was shown well.

Anyways, I really enjoyed this well not because of the plot holes ( I really would have preferred if I got a little bit more detail on how the virus got even started), but because of the heart of the movie. That last scene with the little girl screaming for her dad nearly killed me.

[–] soldier_one_2 8 years ago

Yea... just watched it, and that end scene got me an all. Heart braking, for miss and dad. :(

[–] elbwafel 9 years ago

he didn't have any weapons or the "arm guards" in the final scene. he was shown with a baseball bat or a shield for most of the other fight scenes.

[–] hic66 9 years ago

1) Sometimes with different cultures, the social culture is different. Especially Asian/Korean culture. I actually think the guy did like her but being teased by all his teamates, he pretends not to like her. But in the end, like one of the poster said, he finally gives up as the last person he cares about has finally died. The stupid thing at the end the girl / boy forgets to close the damn door!

2) Totally agree with u...lame ending here, for a guy who fought his way through cars of zombies,..he shouldnt bat an eyelid.

[–] ronteque 9 years ago

He should have survived the fight against that lone zombie. HOWEVER, if he really had to die, I would rather they make it like this..

Main character, his daughter and the pregnant woman walking through the dark tunnels at the end towards Busan. The soldier at Busan didn't want to take chances so he fired at the male silhouette first. His daughter screams "dad" at the top of her lungs, soldiers realized they are survivors and sent in help immediately.

And now we got two choice here..

1) Main character succumbed to fatal gunshot wound
2) Main character survived non-fatal gunshot wound

Everyone is happy and not that crappy death getting bitten by ONE zombie.

[–] everymanaking6488 8 years ago

very bleak and yet a perfect ending to this

[–] toey-terryl 8 years ago

gosh i love this movie to pieces, but I kinda like your ending better.

[–] Jalex2321 9 years ago

1) As explained, virus act differently in each people. There is no reason to expect them to behave exactly the same.

2) He is already tired (physically and psychologically), he knows the guy and the guy talks back to him, would be inhuman to throw him abroad (and the whole movie he has been told not to sacrifice others to save himself).

[–] cherry_blossoms_19 8 years ago

well there's another one - I didn't get why that middle-aged lady just stood there and let the zombies get her (but I found it funny when her sister opened that door later). I hated that bastard who pushed the girl and sacrificed other people just to save his own ass, the two of them could've survived... plus Gong Yoo could've shoved him off the train immediately after that man realized he was infected. But no.. they just stood there watching him go full-zombie mode and it was too late -_-

[–] funkq_182 8 years ago

1) it's a zombie movie, hence there's no scientific proof that every person infected would react the same way to the virus, some may take longer, some may turn immediately, just like real life viruses, you may have the antibody against it while other people don't, you may take longer to heal while other ppl heal faster...

2) cmon, they went through the ordeal together, he must have developed a strong bond with her, and after witnessing all his other friends died, she's the only one left that he actually knew, and with her turning into zombie too, and with his own future and survival rate so uncertain, he felt pointless to continue and gave up... it's very understandable

3) he was weaponless and armorless plus he must have been extremely exhausted mentally and physically, didn't even see him drinking any water... and the COO could as well be strong physically...

although it's a zombie movie with a lot of potential loopholes and cliches, this movie surprisingly was executed to near perfection... i absolutely love it

[–] TinAPie 8 years ago

although it's unfortunate, the dad dying only made the movie "believable" in a sense because it broke the stereotype that the main character can be killable

[–] TinAPie 8 years ago

*and that he can be killed

[–] CJRazon 8 years ago

1) virus affects the people based on how the writers see fit.
Cannon Fodder characters = Turns in a blink of an eye
Main Characters = they have all the time in the world

2) Yeah ending was lame, After all that *beep* have done, I would have thrown him out immediately, he would have not have a chance to say that lame ass excuse of him.