Can Captain America captain this crazy train ride to success, or are we gonna have a runaway train wreck on our hands??? Read our Snowpiercer review to find out!!!
Rightfully so, this movie has
been getting a lot of buzz and I was fortunate enough to be able to get my
hands on the Hong Kong Blu-ray release of the movie prior to its formal release
in the west.
For once, here is a movie
that really lives up to the hype and expectations. It’s easy to see why it’s earned a super high
94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The
movie, made on a paltry $39million budget, has already grossed $80million
worldwide and it hasn’t even been released yet in most territories!
The premise may sound farfetched
but it makes for some compelling cinema.
In 2014 (yes 2014) scientists attempt to combat global warming via a
special weather experiment.
Inadvertently the world is plummeted into an ice age and all life on the
planet is brought to the brink of extinction.
The only human survivors are
on board a special train called the Snowpiercer. A huge train designed to survive the harsh environments
of the frozen world. Running on a
perpetual-motion engine, the train has to keep moving otherwise it risks
freezing and killing everyone on board.
The train track goes around the entire world with one complete
revolution of the track taking a full year.
On board the train is a full
self-sustaining eco-system with food, water, fish and animals. Sounds nice if not for the most extreme class
system divide you will have ever heard of.
The rich elite enjoy an opulent lifestyle at the front while the poor go
hungry and live in squalor in the rear of the train.
We are given a glimpse of the
hell they have lived in for 17 years and the oppression is extreme. No real food, dirty, dark, damp, rusted and
cramped quarters. It’s a suffocating
hell with no obvious way out.
But the poor have not lost
hope, they dream of a revolution, of over powering the bad guys, reaching the
front of the train and taking over control.
The rebels are lead by Curtis Everett (Chris Evans) and elderly mentor
Gilliam (John Hurt) as they go after Wilford, the train’s creator living at the
front of the train.
Additional help comes in the
form of Namgoong Minsu (Song Kang-ho), who helped to design the train, and his
daughter Yona (Go Ah-sung).
Interestingly, they also played father and daughter in the director’s
break out movie The Host.
But this isn’t going to be an
easy ride, no previous revolution attempts have succeeded and in addition to
the numerous carriages that separate the front from the rear, there are
hundreds of guards and soldiers.
Can the good guys
prevail?? Watch to find out!!!
From the director who brought
us the fantastic Korean monster flick The Host; Joon-ho Bong now brings us a
mighty fine thriller in Snowpiercer. Based
on Jean-Marc Rochette's French graphic novel series Le Transperceneige.
Reports are that Bong read the entire comic cover
to cover while stood in one of his favourite comic book shops in 2005. Did he buy the comic?? Who knows! What we do know is that he was fascinated by
the social class system on board the train and the unique dystopian tale of
confined, extreme social stratification.
Needless to say, he wanted to turn it into a movie and here it finally
is!
Korean movies can be pretty
great. There are classics like Old Boy,
My Sassy Girl, The Host, A Bittersweet Life and even hit TV shows like My Love
From Another Star (stay tuned for my review).
Snowpiercer is the first to successfully bridge the Asia / West divide; it’s
a successful intercontinental collaboration, featuring notable actors from both
sides of the globe.
The film is a tense gripping
thriller from start to finish with powerful performances throughout. Captain America in particular, once again
proves his acting chops in a powerful scene at the movies finale.
The unique setting of the
film gives everything a very tense, claustrophobic quality. It is undeniably Korean in flavor but should still
be readily accessible to western audiences.
Think of the movie as a superior version of Hunger Games made specifically
for adults.
Agreed special effects of the
frozen world could perhaps have been slightly better but this should not
detract from your overall enjoyment of the movie, especially as most of the
scenes are in the train’s interior.
Also worth noting is that
this is not an action movie per se, it’s not Captain America 3. Think of it more as a damn good thriller with
a few cool action set pieces.
Snowpiercer is well worth
your time and money. Get your hands on
it, find it on the big screen, get the Blu-ray, and watch it any way you can –
you’ll thank me for it later!
Enjoy!
Rating 4 out of 5
Bobby
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