Seventeen years after the fall of civilization and the onset of a man-made ice age, the last remnants of the human race struggle to coexist aboard a very long, class-segregated passenger train. It's a real love-it-or-hate-it dose of science fiction crazy. If you can look past the miles of odd, glaring holes spattering the plot and appreciate the sheer, raw, carefree conceptual strength, it's easy to embrace. On the other hand, if you're the type that can't stop picking at loose threads, the whole fabric is bound to fall apart.
I usually find myself somewhere in between those two extremes, but during Snowpiercer I was able to silence the critic in the back of my head long enough to enjoy the ride. And it's quite the experience, brimming with blunt (yet, strangely charming) metaphors and social commentaries, abrupt, brutal doses of gang warfare and all manner of high-concept weirdness.
It's an especially well-realized nightmare, too, with a rapidly-shifting visual style, effective matching changes in the cinematography and constant, subtle background reminders of the strange setting. The plot does have its struggles, most of which probably could have been tidied by an attentive editor, but at the end of the day that kind of reckless disregard for the rules serves to make it even more unpredictable and fascinating. Very dark, especially in the mindfuck of a third act, it's as fresh a spectacle as I've seen in quite a while.
Review by drqshadowBlockedParent2020-02-03T19:20:14Z
Seventeen years after the fall of civilization and the onset of a man-made ice age, the last remnants of the human race struggle to coexist aboard a very long, class-segregated passenger train. It's a real love-it-or-hate-it dose of science fiction crazy. If you can look past the miles of odd, glaring holes spattering the plot and appreciate the sheer, raw, carefree conceptual strength, it's easy to embrace. On the other hand, if you're the type that can't stop picking at loose threads, the whole fabric is bound to fall apart.
I usually find myself somewhere in between those two extremes, but during Snowpiercer I was able to silence the critic in the back of my head long enough to enjoy the ride. And it's quite the experience, brimming with blunt (yet, strangely charming) metaphors and social commentaries, abrupt, brutal doses of gang warfare and all manner of high-concept weirdness.
It's an especially well-realized nightmare, too, with a rapidly-shifting visual style, effective matching changes in the cinematography and constant, subtle background reminders of the strange setting. The plot does have its struggles, most of which probably could have been tidied by an attentive editor, but at the end of the day that kind of reckless disregard for the rules serves to make it even more unpredictable and fascinating. Very dark, especially in the mindfuck of a third act, it's as fresh a spectacle as I've seen in quite a while.