Rating of
3.5/4
Snowpiercer is a Supertrain for Sure
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/15/14
Joon-ho Bong essentially turns a tired trope (the post-apocalyptic future) on its head in a wonderful, wicked and semi-serious tale of a future in which to prevent global warming, we bring on a second ice age and the remnants of mankind now reside on a trans-continental train with a perpetual engine. The haves live in luxury in the front - complete with dental care, schools, sushi, rave clubs, meat and all manner of amenities. Those in the back subsist on protein bars (believe me, you do NOT want to know what's in them) - which is a step up from cannibalism. Tilda Swinton is excellent (and nearly unrecognizable) as the front-train representative forced to deal with the dregs while Chris Evans is fine as the back-train resistance leader. Turns from Ed Harris, John Hurt and Korean actors Kang-ho Song and Ah-sung Ko are also finely cast. There is a lot of violence (some of the scenes reminded me of the hammer segment from Oldboy), a tongue-in-cheek look at the struggle between the haves and have-nots and yet an underlying message that the 1% may never change - even when humanity is all but extinct. A great sci-fi film and one of the best surprises of the year (though I was looking forward to this one).
