Nick: 3.5 of 5 stars Jenius: 3.5 of 5 stars Average: 3.5 of 5 stars (Live canary)
Nick: In 2014, countries unite to experiment and counteract global warming, which causes a new ice age and almost the extinction of the human race. All but for those who boarded the Snowpiercer, a train with a perpetual-motion engine that travels around the world. A class system is formed on the train where the rich ride up front eating well and staying in comfortable quarters, the working class who live reasonably well, and the poor are stuck in the tail end, where they are fed protein bars and have no privacy. The train has been running 17 years, and the poor have revolted and failed a couple of times, but this time Curtis (Chris Evans) and Gilliam (John Hurt) learn one of the train’s former engineers Namgoong (Song Kang-ho) lives in the compartment next to theirs. If they can get to him then he would be able to open any compartment door they come up against, hopefully all the way to Wilford, the eccentric billionaire who created the train.
Nick: In 2014, countries unite to experiment and counteract global warming, which causes a new ice age and almost the extinction of the human race. All but for those who boarded the Snowpiercer, a train with a perpetual-motion engine that travels around the world. A class system is formed on the train where the rich ride up front eating well and staying in comfortable quarters, the working class who live reasonably well, and the poor are stuck in the tail end, where they are fed protein bars and have no privacy. The train has been running 17 years, and the poor have revolted and failed a couple of times, but this time Curtis (Chris Evans) and Gilliam (John Hurt) learn one of the train’s former engineers Namgoong (Song Kang-ho) lives in the compartment next to theirs. If they can get to him then he would be able to open any compartment door they come up against, hopefully all the way to Wilford, the eccentric billionaire who created the train.
Jenius: I enjoyed this movie. I thought it was a neat concept (even though the idea of a snowpacoplypse has been done before). The addition of it being on a train was kinda neat. It reminded me of those old sci-fi movies where there is an “us versus them” attitude, like Logan’s Run. It had really good action scenes, and the funny parts were funny, although I didn't realize that was Captain America until about halfway through the movie.
Nick: Chris Evans is a solid actor and was quite good as Captain America. Though I didn’t feel he was right for this part. When he gives his speech about the horrors he’s been through on the train and breaks down, I was left unmoved. I’ve read different reviews today after watching the film for a second time, and critics either don’t mention him, praise him or say he was the worse part.
Jenius: He didn’t feel like the lead, no. I mean he was, but then he wasn't. I think the train itself was the lead. The spectacle and the symbolism and thinly veiled message of class struggle was the main part. He was in no way the best part of the movie. Actor wise, I think that title is a toss up between Tilda Swinton, who played Mason, the voice of the first class, and the team of Kang-ho Song, mention earlier, and his daughter Ah-sung Ko, who plays his daughter. They were also in the director's previous film, the absolutely awesome The Host. (The movie about the monster, not the shitty alien invasion Twilight knockoff.)
Nick: The fact that Joon-ho Bong directed the film was the main impetus for seeing it. His films always deliver, including Memories of Murder. Snowpiercer is his first American film and the most enjoyable if comparing it to the other two South Korean directors invited to make a film in our lovely country: Chan-wook Park’s Stoker and Kim Jee-woon’s The Last Stand. Both those films are good in their own way, but Snowpiercer is an ambitious film to make and will live long in my memory.
Jenius: I’m glad you brought up the director like that. Yes, it was a high selling point for me too to see that Joon-ho Bong was directing an original movie for ‘murican audiences. At this point, readers, if you have yet to see The Host or Memories of Murder, turn off the computer and see them.
I digress. I was excited to see this. Many times foreign director’s ideas and style don't translate well or worse they just remake something they already made with American actors, I’m looking at you Takashi Shimizu and your Ju-on/Grudge fiascos. But I thought this was a solid, entertaining movie.
Nick: It’s a very entertaining film. Whether in a disturbing, hilarious or action packed way, it always stays entertaining. When the lower class fight in the dark against the working class who are wearing night-vision goggles and then one of the lower class, in a brilliantly shot sequence, run forward carrying a torch to salvage their people. Looked gorgeous. Another scene, which was hilarious, was in the education compartment where a teacher (Alison Pill) gives a lesson to students North Korean style about their great and wonderful inventor, Wilford!
Jenius: Hell, yeah! Those two scenes took my breath away. They were wonderfully shot and executed. The director made sure you felt what he wanted you to feel. The school scene was both funny and creepy at the same time. The way kids moved as they shouted their allegiance to their glorious leader. Another funny thing that hit me is the way the lower class looked as they saw a cigarette for the first time in 13 years. The comical look of desperation and wanting. Like a cartoon where a hungry wolf eyes a young lamb. Joon-ho Bong is a great storyteller. The movie hit every emotional mark it was going for. It was funny when it was supposed to be funny, action packed when it needed action. The only flaw was sometimes you didn’t feel for Chris Evans. I think they went for “star power” as opposed to acting prowess. But I did enjoy the junkie daughter. But who doesn't enjoy the comical shenanigans of a teen junkie in a futuristic setting?
Dustin: I don’t.
Junius: Shut up, you! You’re not even reviewing this movie.
Nick: Wait, have you been here this whole time? Hello? Dustin? Hello?
Anyway, her father was also the one giving her drugs, which is always a good way for a father and daughter to share their time.
Jenius: A good bonding experience?
Nick: I’m going to have to ask my dad why he never smoked me up.
Jenius: Where did you learn to do drugs? I learned it from watching your dad! OK then, let’s fire some up!
Nick: Joon-ho also does a good job with shaky cam. Though of course this is a setting where that technique would work wonderfully. The camera subtly shakes from side to side. The camera also uses a lens that makes the frame feel tight, which is great because it even made me feel claustrophobic as if I was one of these people.
The one tone that never hit right for me was the seriousness. Like you said, Chris Evans could possibly be to blame. So much of the serious parts are played through his character. If something happens Curtis is the one closest to the situation and will get the saddest by it. But with Evans’s let’s say limited acting range the sadness and seriousness never came to me. By the end, I really couldn’t care who lived or died beyond the silent-action dude who carried that torch I mentioned before.
Jenius: You hit the nail on the head, or the ax in the chest in case of this movie. You felt bad for the people, not because of a rousing speech and heroic actions of Cap’n Murica, but for the life they lived as shown in Joon-ho’s imagery and the situations the characters are thrusted in. You felt as if you were on that train with them. You felt for them because maybe in some deep primal level, you can relate to them. They are on this nonstop moving train, passengers, survivors, but with no hope or chance to move up in life/the train. They want a better life for themselves and their family and a chance to move to first class, but The Man keeps bringing them down. I think we all felt this way at some point in time. Instead of occupy Wall Street, this movie was occupy first- class seating. It was a definate us versus them, 99 percent versus 1 percent-type of movie. Wow... that’s heavy, man. I think I just blew my own mind.
Nick: Snowpiercer will live long in my memory, for its almost perfect combination of what makes a Hollywood film great and the high-concept plotting of a lesser budget film.
Anything else to add, Jenius?
Jenius: No... I’m still trying to recover from my last comment… I think I need to sit down and have a drink… in first class.
Nick: Chris Evans is a solid actor and was quite good as Captain America. Though I didn’t feel he was right for this part. When he gives his speech about the horrors he’s been through on the train and breaks down, I was left unmoved. I’ve read different reviews today after watching the film for a second time, and critics either don’t mention him, praise him or say he was the worse part.
Jenius: He didn’t feel like the lead, no. I mean he was, but then he wasn't. I think the train itself was the lead. The spectacle and the symbolism and thinly veiled message of class struggle was the main part. He was in no way the best part of the movie. Actor wise, I think that title is a toss up between Tilda Swinton, who played Mason, the voice of the first class, and the team of Kang-ho Song, mention earlier, and his daughter Ah-sung Ko, who plays his daughter. They were also in the director's previous film, the absolutely awesome The Host. (The movie about the monster, not the shitty alien invasion Twilight knockoff.)
Nick: The fact that Joon-ho Bong directed the film was the main impetus for seeing it. His films always deliver, including Memories of Murder. Snowpiercer is his first American film and the most enjoyable if comparing it to the other two South Korean directors invited to make a film in our lovely country: Chan-wook Park’s Stoker and Kim Jee-woon’s The Last Stand. Both those films are good in their own way, but Snowpiercer is an ambitious film to make and will live long in my memory.
Jenius: I’m glad you brought up the director like that. Yes, it was a high selling point for me too to see that Joon-ho Bong was directing an original movie for ‘murican audiences. At this point, readers, if you have yet to see The Host or Memories of Murder, turn off the computer and see them.
I digress. I was excited to see this. Many times foreign director’s ideas and style don't translate well or worse they just remake something they already made with American actors, I’m looking at you Takashi Shimizu and your Ju-on/Grudge fiascos. But I thought this was a solid, entertaining movie.
Nick: It’s a very entertaining film. Whether in a disturbing, hilarious or action packed way, it always stays entertaining. When the lower class fight in the dark against the working class who are wearing night-vision goggles and then one of the lower class, in a brilliantly shot sequence, run forward carrying a torch to salvage their people. Looked gorgeous. Another scene, which was hilarious, was in the education compartment where a teacher (Alison Pill) gives a lesson to students North Korean style about their great and wonderful inventor, Wilford!
Jenius: Hell, yeah! Those two scenes took my breath away. They were wonderfully shot and executed. The director made sure you felt what he wanted you to feel. The school scene was both funny and creepy at the same time. The way kids moved as they shouted their allegiance to their glorious leader. Another funny thing that hit me is the way the lower class looked as they saw a cigarette for the first time in 13 years. The comical look of desperation and wanting. Like a cartoon where a hungry wolf eyes a young lamb. Joon-ho Bong is a great storyteller. The movie hit every emotional mark it was going for. It was funny when it was supposed to be funny, action packed when it needed action. The only flaw was sometimes you didn’t feel for Chris Evans. I think they went for “star power” as opposed to acting prowess. But I did enjoy the junkie daughter. But who doesn't enjoy the comical shenanigans of a teen junkie in a futuristic setting?
Dustin: I don’t.
Junius: Shut up, you! You’re not even reviewing this movie.
Nick: Wait, have you been here this whole time? Hello? Dustin? Hello?
Anyway, her father was also the one giving her drugs, which is always a good way for a father and daughter to share their time.
Jenius: A good bonding experience?
Nick: I’m going to have to ask my dad why he never smoked me up.
Jenius: Where did you learn to do drugs? I learned it from watching your dad! OK then, let’s fire some up!
Nick: Joon-ho also does a good job with shaky cam. Though of course this is a setting where that technique would work wonderfully. The camera subtly shakes from side to side. The camera also uses a lens that makes the frame feel tight, which is great because it even made me feel claustrophobic as if I was one of these people.
The one tone that never hit right for me was the seriousness. Like you said, Chris Evans could possibly be to blame. So much of the serious parts are played through his character. If something happens Curtis is the one closest to the situation and will get the saddest by it. But with Evans’s let’s say limited acting range the sadness and seriousness never came to me. By the end, I really couldn’t care who lived or died beyond the silent-action dude who carried that torch I mentioned before.
Jenius: You hit the nail on the head, or the ax in the chest in case of this movie. You felt bad for the people, not because of a rousing speech and heroic actions of Cap’n Murica, but for the life they lived as shown in Joon-ho’s imagery and the situations the characters are thrusted in. You felt as if you were on that train with them. You felt for them because maybe in some deep primal level, you can relate to them. They are on this nonstop moving train, passengers, survivors, but with no hope or chance to move up in life/the train. They want a better life for themselves and their family and a chance to move to first class, but The Man keeps bringing them down. I think we all felt this way at some point in time. Instead of occupy Wall Street, this movie was occupy first- class seating. It was a definate us versus them, 99 percent versus 1 percent-type of movie. Wow... that’s heavy, man. I think I just blew my own mind.
Nick: Snowpiercer will live long in my memory, for its almost perfect combination of what makes a Hollywood film great and the high-concept plotting of a lesser budget film.
Anything else to add, Jenius?
Jenius: No... I’m still trying to recover from my last comment… I think I need to sit down and have a drink… in first class.
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