Review of Snowpiercer (2013) by Maksim B — 10 Mar 2015

Dark, violent, claustrophobic and certainly not without flaws, Snowpiecer is a thrilling and straightforward wild monorail ride. Morally challenging and mildly disturbing, this movie enjoys a strong grip over the audience even though it is full of too many improbabilities and logical issues over throughout the whole story.

In a time when dystopian thrillers are the newest trend and fashion, Snowpiecer offers a much darker, much controversial approach towards its story and the possible future than most of other Hollywood productions. Years after the Earth has frozen and mankind is on the brink of survival, the only hope for people is a never-stopping, self-sufficient and "living" monorail which is travelling around the world, when the oppressed "new Although the concept of a never-stopping train seems too improbable to be credible, the attention of the audience is quickly diverted from the story-line problems by the social order and context on the train. Graphic, shocking and quite disturbing, the depiction of the "new" dystopian society is director Joon-ho-Bong's biggest achievement. It s unsettling that every drop of blood spilled from the bodies of the "new aristocracy" is actually a moment of satisfaction for the audience. The brutal, straight-forward action offers some moments of originality including a cult fighting sequence in a train carriage while the train passes a tunnel. Another nice surprise is the raw (even though a bit insecure) performance of Chris Evans who succeeds to escape from his Captain America image. Speaking of acting in Snowpiecer, there is one person who truly stands out and that is Tilda Swindon as Mason. For the several scenes in which she takes the lead, her appearance sticks to your darkest thoughts and every single thought of the character appalls.

However, Snowpiecer is not without its specific flaws. The level of credibility is quite low and this is probably the main reason why one could never develop affection for the characters. Having in mind that there are kids involved in the story, the emotional load could have been much higher, especially when the social and standard of living differences on the train are so shocking and unsettling. The final part is not as strong as some might have expected either. The moment when Chris Evans discovers what was the "big plan" is definitely the weakest part of the movie, but the very final minutes are good enough to compensate for this.

As a whole, Snowpiecer is one of the better noir sci-fi thrillers. There is enough action, brutality and controversial moments to keep everyone entertained and pleased with the stylish directional effort from the cult Joon-ho-Bong. Definitely a recommended delivery if you are up for a dark, violent, sci-fi dystopian monorail ride.