Snowpiercer (2013)

Snowpiercer (R) - Review

"Goin' off the rails on a Crazy Train!"

Adapted (apparently somewhat loosely) from an obscure early 1980s French graphic novel and directed by acclaimed Korean director Bong Joon-Ho (The Host), Snowpiercer is his first English effort and tells the supremely strange tale of a train populated with the last of humanity in a frozen alternate Earth and the struggle of the rear passengers for a better life.  Chris Evans (Capt America) and John Hurt (Alien) lead the abject slaves of the rear cars on a revolt against draconian segregation and abysmal living conditions that the trains staff (lead by typecast sourpuss Tilda Swinton) and the train's creator (a malevolent Ed Harris) have forced upon them.  How they got there and where they go is Snowpiercer's tale to tell, but overall it may not be worth the ticket to ride.

There is little background to explain the situation of these underprivileged-come-they-represent-us-on-the-train-of-life, just that an experimental form of fighting global warming with chem-trails has left the Earth a lifeless tundra, and that an unstoppable train that runs throughout the entire world contains the sum total of humanity.  Preposterous as it sounds (and it remains), the premise is in fact the biggest asset to the film.  The emotions are misplaced, CGI is slipshod and cheap, the action sequences oddly misguided, the cartoonishly over the top front cars betray the stark horror and gritty realism of the rear cars.  Surprises and great moments await those who wish to board, but the message of the film may have been lost in one of the translations, what with the rightwing/leftwing conspiracy theories and 99%/1% class warfare that has gone from French to Korean to English.  What was lost seems to have been a clarity of thought, clearness in action and distilled complexity that is sadly missing from such an intriguingly bizarre unHollywood premise, for the movie often barrels the train into very Hollywood-like territory (perhaps Weinstein was right to call for more editing, if handled well).  Still, the uniqueness is omnipresent and there are undeniable moments of greatness, especially for fans of WTF-OLs and sci fi action.  There's just not enough of it to toot it's own horn.

6 Slow Motion Fish Axe Moments out of 10 (GOOD)