Very imaginative and with a very conscious message of what humanity is capable of, interpreting that through different meanings.

Snowpiercer is a film based on a French graphic novel called Le Transperceneige, and in this we follow the story of mankind, who lives aboard a large train, after a serious ecological problem that froze Planet Earth forever. Almost everyone in the world died frozen least the ones who boarded on the train, and past 18 years still travels a worldwide route and according to its inventor, Wilford, an engineer who predicted the fatal events, the train will never stop. If any of the passengers tries to leave, will freeze to death. The train is divided into several sections and social levels which can not mix with each other. In the last car of the train lives the lowest social class that sick of living in extreme poverty, found a plan to try to bring down Wilford's field who lives commanding everything that happens in the first train carriage. The main goal of the rebels is to reach Wilford and end inequality among all human beings.

Despite is unreal story this turns out to be a film with immense significance and to be able to appreciate the importance of the messages it wants to deliver we have to know first of all to analyze the meaning of all the moments that we think are out of place. For what at first sight may be out of context or not seems to make sense (due to the condition of the world and the people of the train) will make much sense anyway if we look beyond what we see.

The main reason why this film manages to be successful it may be the direction of the Korean Bong Joon-ho, who with this film makes his directorial debut in English language. Despite the language and the amount of known actors, we feel anyway the Asian cinema style very present throughout the film and that is very interesting.

The set design is absolutely magnificent! The way the carriages were designed are great, but when it comes to the image of the outside world leaves much to be desired. The CGI is very poor and all the frozen world seems very unreal.

Is full of bizarre characters and moments that break a little of the dark atmosphere in the story and this is great because it gives us spontaneous laughs from time to time, relieving its tension.

Chris Evans surprised me a lot! His performance is very emotional and managed to convince me of their intentions and feelings. His figure in the past few years is very attached to Captain America and during this film he made ​​me forget about that. My favorite character is without a doubt Tilda Swinton's, extremely bizarre and unique, something she knows how to make and very good! The rest of the cast, with names such as John Hurt, Ed Harris, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer and Koreans Song Kang-ho and Ko Ah-sung were also good.

I believe this is the kind of film that grows on us after consecutive views. Is biggest problem may be is long duration. Although is quite entertaining for most of the time, because of its length, the final act ends up losing a little magic not having so much intensity and impact as it should have been.

Flaws aside, it's very good to see a different style in Hollywood and I am sure that this film will be the subject of constant analysis over the years, not only for is unique style but also for the messages it wants to pass.

Snowpiercer is a film that perfectly projects the type of stigma in society in general, the problem that has always existed and unfortunately still exists today between the different social classes.

If there's one word I'd use to describe Snowpiercer, it'd be "interesting." I had no expectations about this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised by the premise of the story, which was actually quite original in my opinion. It takes place on a train carrying the rest of humanity in post-apocalyptic Earth that has been circling the same route for 18 years now. Now, I can imagine a post-apocalyptic society living underground or in a bubble but on a train? At first I thought it was pretty stupid, but it grew on me. It truly was a very unique situation and something that I at first thought to be a little strange, but grew to be intrigued by. I'd hate to be a passenger on the Train of Perpetual Hell.

The cinematography in Snowpiercer was great, especially during the scene where they're fighting in the tunnel just after they pass the bridge. The little slivers of light and night vision POVs were fantastic, as well as seeing Chan, a little kid, carry the torch. Not only that, but watching the characters travel through the different sections of the train starting from the greenhouse area to the front of the engine was pretty neat. I thought the set design was great, and seeing the stations where all of those first class passengers were eating brunch and partying were just unreal. However, the CGI-generated scenes of the frozen outside world were mediocre, at best.

The acting in this movie was phenomenal, but my favorite performance was definitely Tilda Swinton. Her character was just so over-the-top and outrageous and was more than just comic relief. I also loved Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris, Song Kang-ho and Ko Ah-Sung's performances, and I think a lot of it was due to the great script.

I really enjoyed all of the characters, and despite virtually all of them dying, I thought that their sacrifices were disappointing but also realistic. In addition to realism, the brutality that many of the characters faced were definitely not sweetened up, which I kinda liked. I expected things to happen that usually happen in movies, but most of them never took place. For example, I thought Curtis was going to run back and help Edgar instead of getting Mason during the battle at the bridge, but NOPE! he left his friend behind to get her. Not only that, but I assumed that the head henchman wasn't actually going to shoot Gilliam in the head but NOPE! he really did! The blood splatters across the train windows in the bridge battle were a little much, but I still believed that they added to the realism. None of the savagery, cruelty, pain, or gravity of the situation in this movie is toned down or softened up, which left me with some real, raw emotions. And thanks to the wonderful actors doing their jobs, I could feel these feelings through my TV screen (especially the part where Curtis talks about his past... just wow. You're a great man, Chris Evans). There are some graphic and gory parts, but not enough to make me turn my head away (with the exception of a few scenes). Yet, I still found myself screaming out loud/gasping audibly from time to time due to some shocking/unexpected deaths (that cool shirtless guy with the knives!!) and various surprises (Yona finding the kids under the floorboards of the front of the train). I found myself knees-deep in their issues, and I think the many plot twists just contributed to me being sucked into the story.

I will admit that there were some cheesy/ridiculous things in the movie, but I feel like they just added to the story. For example, when the train crossed the bridge and all of those henchmen stopped fighting and shouted "Happy New Year!" was just sooo silly.

(And can we just appreciate how this movie was filmed on a set that was essentially 6 feet wide? Imagine how cramped the actors must have felt but they did great, so kudos to them!)

I had some questions at the end that were left unanswered, mostly concerning what happened to Curtis, Nam, and the other passengers. I understand that they probably died, but some clarification would be nice (I'm trying to be impartial to Chris Evans but man, I just love that guy so much I wouldn't want any of his characters to die). Also, were there any survivors other than Yona and Tanya's son (ahhh I can't remember his name!)? Definitely some things I wouldn't expect to be clarified in this movie, but I guess that's a good thing, because it left me pondering.

Anyways, the more I think about it, the better the movie gets in my mind. I will definitely watch this again in the future. I gave it an 8/10 because it was a really good story but there were some weird elements that I felt didn't make any decent contribution.

Original IP Post-Apocalyptia as well as the 21st century can possibly dish it out.

_Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite._

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Snowpiercer is getting a TV adaptation soon, so now it's the best moment to rewatch one of the best movies in 2014. At the time, Bong Joon-ho wasn't exactly a famous director that everyone knew about. Therefore, the cast led by Captain America himself, Chris Evans, and the intriguing premise did all the work in creating the cult following it got. Ironically, I haven't watched this film since its release, so this is only my second time boarding its train. I'm going to start with the best thing that this movie possesses: its screenplay.

This is one of the most shocking films I've seen when it comes to delivering jaw-dropping twists, one after the other, exclusively through dialogue. As it would become a staple in Bong Joon-ho's filmography, his writing is so incredibly complex and multi-layered that it's truly a miracle that his movies end up making any sense. Snowpiercer (which is co-written by Kelly Masterson) has literally dozens of logical questions that any other film would not only fail to explain, they wouldn't even try to. With any other screenwriters, this movie would feel too far-fetched and hard to believe. But it's far from that.

Each character receives extraordinarily elaborate development, filled with mind-blowing revelations and eye-opening twists. Every line of dialogue, every picture, every camera movement, every shot, every scene matters. Everything the viewer sees or hears either means something or foreshadows an eventual payoff. Snowpiercer is the definition of "every shot counts". Don't you dare go to the bathroom without stopping the film first. You'll undoubtedly miss something significant. Absolutely brilliant screenplay and astonishing, well-written characters.


It's indisputably a narrative-driven story. Snowpiercer is a lesson in exposition. Even though there's plenty of action (I'll get there), it's a movie that relies on the viewer's ability to be captivated by dialogue. The concept is definitely unique, and the story is extremely captivating, but only if the viewer can understand the value of entertainment in listening to these characters while they go through their revolution... in learning who these characters were, are and will be. Just as an example, there's a third act's monologue performed by Chris Evans that not only delivers tons of information about his character, but it's also emotionally compelling to watch. If someone doesn't *feel* anything during this scene, then maybe Snowpiercer might not be the movie for you.

I find The Platform to have a similar concept. Instead of a train, it's a vertical prison, but the allegory of how society works is evident in both films. How politics, religion, and early education can control Humanity. The top/front people not only receive more than what they need, but they still overuse everything, completely ignoring the bottom/tail humans that need to fight for scraps. These films take entirely different paths, but Snowpiercer owns a much more complex narrative than The Platform. However, it's still interesting to see the comparisons between these two distinct approaches on a similar theme.

Nevertheless, for everyone that needs some sort of dynamic entertainment, this flick is also packed with action set pieces. There's a tiny bit of too much shaky cam for my taste, but overall, it accomplishes the mission of delivering the chaotic, energetic, claustrophobic environment that the action sequences need. It's a train, after all. It's not like they could produce massive battles in such a small space. In fact, the screenplay allows the crew to show some really creative, innovative techniques. The use of slow-motion (not only during the action scenes) elevates the movie, generating great suspense/tension, and it's perfectly timed (including a fantastic one-take sequence with Chris Evans).


Since I just mentioned him, might as well address his impressive performance. People might not remember this, but at the time of the film's release, Evans was interested in pursuing a directing career, setting his acting as a secondary role. While I do believe he's going to make a great director, I'm beyond happy that he continued to use his acting abilities. As with most of MCU's actors, I feel like he's pretty underrated considering what he has demonstrated throughout his career. Snowpiercer is just the tip of the iceberg. Chris Evans is a remarkable actor and much more than "just" a version of Captain America.

Tilda Swinton (Mason) also offers a quite interesting display, Octavia Spencer (Tanya) is fascinating, while the legend Ed Harris (Wilford) takes his short but effective screentime to prove how gifted he is, especially concerning plot exposition. He's always able to be captivating by merely opening his mouth. Marco Beltrami's score is riveting and memorable. The editing (Steve M. Choe, Changju Kim) is not only seamless, but it definitely helps the viewer better understand the story. Finally, the production and set design are impeccable, offering the "one-location", claustrophobic vibe that a train unavoidably has.

My only major issue involves the ending. It's quite impactful but also underwhelming and morally divisive. A particular decision that affects everyone in the train (basically, the entire Humanity) doesn't quite convince me that it's the best conclusion. It sort of diminishes some of the characters' efforts to get where they do, as well as the story's initial purpose. On one hand, it's an ending that raises a few questions in a movie that does a terrific job in explaining every little detail until this last moment. On the other hand, the train is far from giving a fair life to everyone...


In the end, Snowpiercer is not only one of 2014's best films but also one of the best of the respective decade. With a brilliant screenplay, Bong Joon-ho delivers an extremely complex narrative, filled with emotionally shocking character development, and featuring excellent stunt work. The underlying theme of how Humanity is controlled by how its society works (from politics to religion to education) cleverly accompanies the already twistful story. Snowpiercer is a phenomenal lesson in "exposition", and the definition of "every shot matters". Boasting jaw-dropping performances from everyone, especially from Chris Evans, every dialogue is remarkably captivating, packed with mind-blowing revelations, and an unbelievable effort in explaining every little detail regarding the train's functionality. This would undoubtedly be at the top of the decade's best movies if not for a morally divisive and somewhat underwhelming/questionable ending. Technically, an addictive score, amazing editing, and impressive production/set design put the final stamp of quality in a brightly original, unique piece of cinema.

Rating: A