Snowpiercer (2013) - Review

One of the main flaws in many action films is that they're style over substance. This is mainly because it's a lot harder to develop and provide depth to characters in an action driven movie as opposed to a story driven movie. Some action movies are able to provide character development and depth in them, but some films like this one do something else to get around the common style over substance criticism. It uses social commentary to tell its story and to make it more interesting.

In the far future, an attempt to stop global warming leads to an ice age where most of the world's population is killed by it. Some of the survivors spend their lives on a train called "The Rattling Ark". In the train, the middle and upper class residents live in the middle of the train and the "scum" or the lower class live in the back of the train where their treatment and living conditions are very poor. One of the lower class residents, Curtis Everett, decides to lead the tail passengers in a revolt where he plans to take them all the way up to the engine. Since they can only fight them with whatever they can find and pick up along the way, doing so proves to be a difficult task.

One thing I really like about the film is the set design of many parts of the train. It is interesting to see the train go from a slum-like living quarter to brightly and vividly colored rooms with different designs and layouts of the objects. Since each of the rooms all look different, this makes it so the film doesn't seem neither repetitive nor bland at all. This is a good feature to have in films as it gives a somewhat artsy and creative feel to them. It is pretty cool to see that the uninviting and dull looks of the back of the train can look so much better in the middle train cars.

The action scenes are pretty unpredictable and tense since we quickly learn that main characters can be killed off so easily. After one of the characters that I thought would be one of the main characters in the film died so soon, I realized that this would be a movie that is not afraid of killing off its characters, even some of the ones that most would probably care about the most. This is a good trait to have in films because it gives them a sense of daringness not found in many other action films.

People who say that this is just a typical action thriller are completely missing the point of it. It uses social commentary to shape its plot. The movie represented the political structure of our world in the microcosm of the train. The people in the back of the train represented the people who live in the third world who are struggling for their lives. The people who were partying and having a happy time in the middle section of the train represented the people in the first world who get to afford nice homes, have nice jobs, and basically get to live overall happy and peaceful lives. This is represented best in the film when it shows Curtis traveling through the sections of the train which show numerous people partying and having a good time. That represents how most people who live in the first world turn a blind eye to all the people who are having a difficult time going about their days in the third world as they get to live in the middle of the train. It's unfortunately realistic that only one of the people in the middle of the train, Namgoong, is able to see through all of what's happening and is willing to help them. This represents how most people in today's world are distracted by their luxuries and they don't bother with helping people less fortunate than they are. The only difference between the film and today's world is that most of the people in the middle and upper class got to relax and didn't have to work at jobs unlike most first world people today, but keep in mind that this film is a metaphor, not an exact replica of reality. This means that in the future, middle class people will get to relax while the government hands them out wages except a few people who most likely volunteered to work. Overall, this movie painted an accurate and detailed description of how the train represented today's social class.

Also, the acting is pretty great as well. Chris Evans performs his lines well as he never sounds over-the-top and he is able to switch from scenes where he plays a hate-fueled 'prisoner' who is aching for revenge to scenes where you can sympathize for and understand his motivations and what he had to go through while he was in the back of the train. Also, many of the other actors such as Song Kang-ho, Jamie Bell, and Octavia Spencer helped carry the movie as well as they brought their own unique skills and talents to the table and they were all pretty good in their own way.

In conclusion, this is an ambitious and entertaining action film which succeeds on every level. People who say that this is just a typical style over substance action film need to watch this with a far more critical eye. The social commentary it uses is well-written and effective. Also, the set design and acting also help make this movie even better. This is now one of my favorite films of 2014 and I strongly suggest watching it if you want to find a modern action film which plays its cards differently than most other films of the genre.

Final Verdict: 10/10 Masterpiece