Review of Snowpiercer (2013) by Victor T — 02 Oct 2015

2014 was an incredible year for cinema, with multiple memorable films, but there were two films that audiences feel that they didn't get the acclaim they deserved: The blockbuster "Live Die Repeat" and the Korean "Snowpiercer". Is "Snowpiercer" that good? Does it deserves the cult status it seems it might be getting?

In a post-apocalyptic future, mankind is now confined to live on a train that constantly circles around the world. At the head of the train the wealthy reside and at the back the lower class. But that might change when a man is determined enough to challenge the social system and attempt to bring justice to its people, but he is unaware of what the cost of this revolution can be.

After a year of its release, "Snowpiercer" is now consider an underrated potential cult film (as "Live Die Repeat") apparently for counting with an original story, so I finally watched it and sadly I was extremely disappointed. "Snowpiercer" counts with mostly solid acting, a pretty impressive set design that perfectly creates a steampunk like environment, some pretty interesting and shocking visuals, while the story is not something new (an example of the use of a train as a setting is a novel called "Metro 2033" due to its heavy handed social class analogy) the execution is mostly solid, it has a little dose of satire that is a little funny, the cinematography is mostly beautiful, a functional fast pacing, a couple of impressive action sequences that are elevated thanks to the use of the setting, some characters are sympathetic, an appropriate use of violence, and it is really entertaining and exciting for most of its running time. But honestly I have some problems with this film: Tilda Swinton´s acting is shockingly goofy for a dramatic actress of her caliber (while I liked the Thatcher parallels, her accent and body language is extremely annoying), being a Korean production, the action sequences are mostly John Woo type ballet of violence and that style doesn't work with the story and narrative presented; the running time is needlessly stretched in the second half, a laughably absurd gun fight that comes out of nowhere and takes forever to end, the film never takes advantage of its peculiar setting, some characters are suddently dropped, the story is predictable, and the amount of plot contrivances/holes is infuriating. But the biggest issue I found was the climax. It reveals some interesting concepts but due to their lack of setup and they come off as a last minute addition to the script (particularly certain revelation that is reminiscent of certain sci-fi classic of 1973).

"Snowpiercer" is film that started with potential but ultimately its lazily written script transformed it into a failure. It looks good, the acting is mostly solid, and some ideas/sequences are great but the overall finished product is this generic sci-fi film that offer nothing new. Entertaining but frustrating and forgettable.