Snowpiercer - with many spoilers

Snowpiercer is the 2013 sci-fi action film based entirely on a train containing the only survivors of the human race. The film remains the most expensive Korean production to date. It was directed by Bong-Joon Ho and has had The Weinstein Company’s grubby, filthy hands all over it. What a ride.

The Weinstein Company apparently tried to cut large parts of the film against the directors wishes in order to achieve what they thought may have been a more commercially successful release. Bong fought back and even lied to keep scenes he valued in the film. The Weinstein company isn't known for valuing consent however and cut huge portions of the film anyway. After a lot of back and forth and feedback from focus groups Bong got his way and the final release was a full director's cut. The price of this being that the film was only initially available in limited screens in America. This eventually had to be expanded to other cinemas due to the popularity of the film.

Verdict

My movie ratings consist of thumbs up or middle fingers as sometimes one starring something doesn’t shame it enough. 5 thumbs up = an absolute triumph. 5 middle fingers = a complete piece of shit, go fuck yourself.

Snowpiercer - 4 thumbs up What a mental, action packed, barrage of thoroughly enjoyable chaos. Snowpiercer isn’t a train, it’s a rollercoaster.

Favourite quote “Are there any experienced violinists here?” - The guards representing a sort of train wide authority barked this at the scum class passengers at the back of the train at gunpoint. Why someone had brought a violin onto the last train on earth when they weren’t able to play it remains to be explained.

Other, perhaps more poignant quotes include:

“I know that babies taste best” - .Curtis, leader of the revolution on the train reveals that he used to eat babies. He’d even tried to eat his mate Edgar.

“In the whole wide train” - The children in the nursery have only ever lived on the train. It has become their world.

Favourite scene

The scene where the revolting lower class passengers realize that their oppressors have run out of bullets to shoot them with stole the show for me. This scene throws the film into overdrive. The film instantly shifts from meandering backstory into a huge, interesting and often violent surge to the front of the train. This turning point in the film delivers such a noticeable change in pace that I couldn’t help but feel excited. A random search is undertaken in the poverty ridden last few carriages of the train just as Curtis and crew are stashing away their weapons. They realize this is their moment to try and overthrow the guards. Curtis charges forward and holds the main guard’s gun to his head. The click of the trigger cements the fact that ‘bullets are extinct’. The amazing cinematography in this shot alone was enough to win me over. I wanted to like Snowpiercer after this, no matter what eggs, fish or babies it threw at me.

Best meme from the movie

Analysis

Religious metaphors, social commentary, mouth watering babies, this film has it all. It’s as if the creators of Lost came together and decided to create something just as intriguing that actually made sense. It’s also my favourite movie that takes place on a train - I’m looking at you Murder on the Orient Express...

It’s quite the cast of unruly misfits that have stowed away on Wilfred’s train ark, but what a gang! Curtis the cannibal leads the way despite pretending to be subordinate to Gilliam, a man with a peg leg and one arm. His protégée is Edgar, who was once a baby so delicious that he literally cost an arm and a leg. Next, a Scottish man who has had his arm frozen off and a lady who would like her kidnapped son back. Also close friends with Curtis is some sort of silent Kung Fu champion who happens to be on board and proves very useful to the cause, but the absolute icing on the cake is the last two heretics in their band of freedom fighters; Yona and Minsu Namgoong. Minsu is a Korean speaking criminal drug addict who is stored in a filing cabinet with his daughter Yona, also a drug addict and seemingly clairvoyant. What could go wrong?

The train itself plays a sort of silent character in the film as to beat the new world order, you have to beat the train. It is incredibly fun watching the wacky characters take on increasingly more difficult carriages to reach Wilfred, the final boss, as if they were in a side scrolling video game from the 80’s. As the characters stumble from carriage to carriage it really is anyone’s guess as to what could be hiding through the next door. An aquarium? An orange plantation? A kindergarten? A sexy party? Maybe a sauna and pool? Perhaps a mad man turning cockroaches into solid brown bars of nutrition? All of these things. And 100 psychopaths with axes and night vision goggles guarding a water tank.

Points in this movie seemed so surreal that they were almost laughable upon watching it the first time around. Particularly the scene where a fight to the death between 100 axe-wielding crazies is temporarily put on hold in order for everyone in the carriage to wish each other a happy new year. The director manages somehow to tie up all of these ridiculous nuances at the end of the movie and have it all make sense. That, for me, makes for an excellent movie.

Finally, our journey comes to an end as after Curtis has been offered Godlike status as the driver of the train and savior of the human race, some wild chip on his shoulder has him help his mate derail the train, surely killing most people. Then the survivors - a 5 year old boy and a teenage girl walk outside where they discover the cold wouldn’t immediately freeze them to death as feared, they will most likely be mauled to death by a ravenous, hungry Polar bear. A perfect ending to a perfect journey. I’ve had worse on London Midland.

The bottom line

This was an excellent movie. I haven’t enjoyed a sci-fi action film this much since The Matrix was released. Similarly to The Matrix the film is very re-watchable. The second time around may even be more rewarding with the beauty of hindsight, offering “Ahhhh, that makes so much sense!” moments where you can grin knowingly at your confused friends and family who are busy questioning the procurement of a North Atlantic Sea Bass.