Skip to main content

“Snowpiercer”–Don’t Get on This Train

Snowpiercer

“Snowpiercer“(2013), directed by the Korean master Bong Joon-ho (of “Mother” fame) is a sci-fi dystopia in the year 2031, after a failed climate-change experiment seventeen years before has frozen all of Earth and wiped out all life, except for the survivors on a bullet train–Snowpiercer–  traveling across the globe in a self-contained ecosystem. The  train is class-structured with the poorest in the back suffering like slaves under grotesque conditions and the 1 % in the front with every luxury imaginable, epitomized by spa pools, floor-to-ceiling aquariums, and sushi bars.  Curtis (Chris Evans from “Captain America”), a passenger who is in the back of the train, wants social change and a wise old man named Gilliam (John Hurt) helps him.  Curtis’s  friend, Edgar (Jamie Bell),  and a mother (Octavia Spencer) of a child seized from her also are determined to change their destiny.

The scene-stealer is Tilda Swinton, virtually unrecognizable as the spokesperson for the privileged ruling class.  Every shot she is in perks up this two-hour film that, although carefully crafted and loaded with special effects, has a story that does not arc properly, dragging in plot points until another over-the-top fight scene tries to grab the audience’s attention. Swinton2

“Snowpiercer” is Korean director, Joon-ho Bong’s first English-language film with a combination of A-list Korean actors and exceptional American ones.  I am not the right demographic for this film.  It is a  thriller for the audience who loves “300” (mainly under-30 males) with long fight scenes and special effects that chew up any story or semblance of one.  If you want to see a masterpiece by Bong, rent “Mother”and don’t get on this train.

 

Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to my Newsletter

* indicates required
Apr0 Posts
May0 Posts
Jun0 Posts
Jul0 Posts
Aug0 Posts
Sep0 Posts
Oct0 Posts
Nov0 Posts
Dec0 Posts
Jan0 Posts
Feb0 Posts
Mar0 Posts
Apr0 Posts
May0 Posts
Jun0 Posts
Jul0 Posts
Aug0 Posts
Sep0 Posts
Oct0 Posts