FilmSnobReviews

What It Is: In a dystopian future were an eternal winter set off by humankinds own arrogance has killed off most of humanity those aboard the Snowpiercer, a train designed and built by a mysterious Wilford still live. They sleep, eat, and do whatever needs doing aboard this train, and those on the tail end including Curtis (Evans), Edgar (Bell), and the yoda-like Gilliam (John Hurt) live in conditions not fit for most criminals to live in. They are rarely fed, and when they are it is in the form of mysterious protein blocks. They rarely if ever get to shower, and are huddled in a mass of humanity. Often beaten, shot, and delimbed for the slightest issue they hope to one day escape this tail, and get to the front where all the better off people live the glorious life.
What We Think: Damn! This movie is an adrenaline rush going at a pace rivaled only by the Snowpiercer herself. From the opening beat to it’s mysterious ending we’re gripped to this people trying to make a better life. This particular film was released pretty much everywhere else last year, and is now coming out here in the states. It’s visual style is taken heavily from it’s source material which is a French graphic novel entitled “Le Transperceneige”, and that is a great thing! The gritty dark imagery for the tail section is grossly different from that of the other sections, and as you see more of the train no two sections like alike, and they tend to correspond with those that inhabit it.

Our Grade: A-, Go see this! It’s honestly a surprise for me because I had no expectation and went in blind having not seen any trailers. Boy was that a good choice! Evans is as intense as all hell, and really seems to get the character. He leads this thing with a fervor and you’ll be gripped to the damn seat the entire time. Bong put together some amazing shots here, not too shabby for his first America feature, it’s simply stunning!