Wow. Just wow. Snowpiecer isn't exactly perfect (though it is pretty damn perfect), but it really is quite daring. This is one heck of an action movie, but that's only half of it. The other half is the world that is built around the action, and just how well it is created. Snowpiercer's story is quite simple. The Earth has frozen over, and the remains of humanity are on a train built by a man named Wilford that is forever running The rich are in the front, and enjoy luxury. The poor are at the back,and are in a complete shithole. And that's just the start of the story. Chris Evans plays Curtis a man who with his friends (Jamie Bell and John Hurt) have been planning a rebellion. This rebellion makes up most of the film. The group slowly fights their way up to the front of the ship, and boy is that great. You may also notice that this is not in itself deep, and even shallow. Well that's because it is. Okay that is not saying that the entire film is shallow, and bad it's just that as far as the premise goes I wished there was more. Again that is not saying that what we got was bad. Oh no what we got is by far the best action movie of the year. The film may not be the deepest, but it's also wildly entertaining. The action is breathtaking with brawls happening in the confined spaces. And it's really nasty hand to icepick/ ax combat so yeah it's awesome. Oh and when guns are put into the mix it's actually a crazy surprise, and they are used in a creative way. It's really just thrilling. Also thrilling is the prospect of having to do all of this rebellion with the everyday obstacles of the train present. They don't exactly do much with it, but there are some intense moments involving the train itself. I find this a little off. In film's like this the train would usually be "given a personality" if you know what I mean, but no the film is focussed mainly to the cast of characters. And that is basically the best thing that it does( other than the action). The actors in the roles are more than up to scratch, and some deliver their best performances here. I'm looking at Chris Evan's who plays the main character. He has been decent in other stuff,but he seemed one note in all of that. There is a speech that he give near the end of the film that is so well delivered I was baffled. This speech brings up the other great thing about the characters (or at least the writing for that matter). This speech develops Curtis as a character, makes us care about the plot more than we already have, and world builds beyond belief. Yes there is thrilling action in this film, but what fills up the gaps in between are expertly constructed sequences that allow us to get immersed in the world even more than we already were. Each car is different, each representing some theme. There's the water car, the sauna car, and of course the engine room... etc. All of them we get to stop at, and all of them build on the world being created. Oh, and the sets are all just beautiful. As far as the supporting cast can be inferred. They are all great especially Ed Harris as Wilford the builder of the train, and Tilda Swinton as Mason the person who communicates with the back of the train personally from the front. Of course we can't forget "the great" John Hurt either. All of this being so good actually helps the film survive it's end. Now the end twist is awesome, and really it is something. I found it jarring though. It provides answers to questions that one might have been asking throughout the film, and has a cool allegorical spin to it, but the movie is an action movie up to that point, and suddenly here comes an ending that is talky,and of a different tone. I feel that if the talky stuff had not been confined to just the ending it would not have felt as out of place. That's not to say the content there is bad it just could have been organized better. Snowpiecer is not quite perfect,but it's pretty damn close. I know this review has sounded somewhat negative, but that is far from my intentions. See the film's shallow, but it's too thrilling for that to be a big deal. The action is brutal, and just really well done. Overall in my personal opinion it didn't end as cool as I wanted it to, but other then that good. Yeah watch this it's really good. I give Snowpiercer a 9 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |