I watched Snowpiercer on a return flight from Hawaii in October. (Life imitating irony.) I didn't review it because, frankly, I didn't think it was worth the effort. Apparently I was wrong. Many folks are taking the film more seriously than I did. And not just cinemaphiles but folks whom I respect like Joe Carter (here) and Jonah Goldberg (here).
Without giving away much of the plot, suffice it to say that Snowpiercer is a Korean, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi pic set on board a train that circles a frozen earth every year and whose passengers are the only human beings remaining alive after a failed attempt to stop global warming. I found the plot to be exceptionally implausible even for science fiction.
I'm not going to recount any more of the plot because I don't have the time and both Carter and Goldberg do a good job of it. (Spoiling the movie, however, for anyone who might want to see it.) The acting was often stilted but, I suppose, appropriate for the film's self-important view of its theme. I should hasten to point out, however, that the staging and cinematography (or CGI) were exceptional. Well done schlock, IMHO. A good way to kill some time cooped up in a plane but little more.
Both Carter and Goldberg (along with many others) believe the film has much more to say than how human beings are their own worst enemies. And the planet's. I'm not so sure. I do want to point out, however, that the film has a "happier" ending than Carter believes. In other words, I believe the film hold open the possibility that the only survivors of the climactic train wreck can survive to repopulate the earth because they don't immediately freeze to death and turn into human popsickles like previous escapees from the train. Now if that doesn't want to make you see the movie, I don't know what will.
Without giving away much of the plot, suffice it to say that Snowpiercer is a Korean, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi pic set on board a train that circles a frozen earth every year and whose passengers are the only human beings remaining alive after a failed attempt to stop global warming. I found the plot to be exceptionally implausible even for science fiction.
I'm not going to recount any more of the plot because I don't have the time and both Carter and Goldberg do a good job of it. (Spoiling the movie, however, for anyone who might want to see it.) The acting was often stilted but, I suppose, appropriate for the film's self-important view of its theme. I should hasten to point out, however, that the staging and cinematography (or CGI) were exceptional. Well done schlock, IMHO. A good way to kill some time cooped up in a plane but little more.
Both Carter and Goldberg (along with many others) believe the film has much more to say than how human beings are their own worst enemies. And the planet's. I'm not so sure. I do want to point out, however, that the film has a "happier" ending than Carter believes. In other words, I believe the film hold open the possibility that the only survivors of the climactic train wreck can survive to repopulate the earth because they don't immediately freeze to death and turn into human popsickles like previous escapees from the train. Now if that doesn't want to make you see the movie, I don't know what will.
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