I really enjoyed this movie. I remember seeing the trailer for it sometime last year and thinking it looked like it could be good, but it probably wouldn’t be. Then I kept seeing reviews and hearing good things about it. I was happy to be wrong about today’s feature, the 2014 (or 2013) post-apocalyptic sci-fi action movie, Snowpiercer.
The year is 2031. Global warming had become a serious/proven problem. To combat this, a chemical was entered into the atmosphere that would cool the planet’s temperature – but of course things didn’t work out as planned and Earth became so cold that it was uninhabitable. Humanity’s only hope was aboard a giant super-train developed and overseen by a tech/transportation genius named Wilford. The richer you were, the closer to the front you sat. If you couldn’t afford a ticket, you were loaded into the back of the train, as many as they could take.
While the people at the front of the train lived an all-together normal existence, the people in the back of the train struggled in poverty and filth. As far as the people at the front, or the people running the train – they should be lucky they’re even on it.
The train has been running non-stop for almost 18 years. It has a self-sustaining engine that never runs out, and if any snow is blocking the way – the train will crash…or pierce…right through it.
In the past the folks in the tail of the train have been tired of being left to rot and they mount a rebellion. Each time, they don’t make it very far. Once again, the people have had enough and plan a revolt – lead by the start of this movie, Chris Evans.
I liked how there was very little backstory to open up this movie. There was a brief synopsis about what happened to the world, and then boom we are in the train and instead of being force fed everything about what is going on with these people, we discover things as they happen.
I also really dug the cast that this movie was able to bring together. Besides Chris Evans, we also had Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ed Harris, Allison Pill, and probably my favorite character was played by Tilda Swinton – who was in some leadership position within the train and was wonderfully weird and horrible.
The concept/story along with the acting really sold this movie to me and made it an enjoyable watch.
A few things of note:
- Though this movie’s lead is Captain America himself, this should probably technically be considered a foreign movie. Directed by Korean filmmaker Joon-ho Bong (as Bong Joon-ho in the credits), Snowpiercer was actually released in South Korea in 2013, and didn’t get an American release until 2014.
- Though it made some money worldwide, this movie didn’t make much money in the US in theaters (only around $4 million), but it was also released on VOD and those numbers nearly doubled the movies revenues.
- Although this seems like an original take on the post-apocalyptic genre, it is actually based on a 30+ year old French graphic novel called Le Transperceneige that has only recently been translated into English.
If you like action/suspense with some sci-fi and comedic elements, plus some fine acting – I would definitely recommend you check this movie out.