The post-apocalyptic saga of the last remnants of mankind, cooped up aboard a colossal high-speed train that circles the Earth once a year, Snowpiercer is a wildly surreal fever dream - the lovechild of Brazil and Delicatessen, with a mad wallop of Hollywood action thrown in for good measure. It's amazing to see Chris Evans - Captain America himself - in this utterly unhinged art house thrill ride - a description which just doesn't even begin to do it justice. But the sensibility on display here has more in common with Park Chan-wook's Oldboy than with anything off the conventional studio assembly line.
Tilda Swinton has created one the most freakishly memorable characters of the year - and I mean that in a good way. Like some spinster schoolmarm promoted into the gestapo, she's tasked with maintaining the Have's control over the Have-nots. An early scene involving "seven minutes" has to be seen to be believed.
A movie about the uprising of an oppressed 99% with this much metaphor could be the most tiresome of slogs, but not with Bong (The Host) at the throttle. The building revolt and car-by-car journey through the train is relentlessly entertaining and unpredictable. There's so much going on in Snowpiercer and so many moments that simply dazzled and surprised, it's going to take a second viewing (at least) to put it all together.
Some people aren't going to dig the off-kilter crazy train that Bong has provided, and I can well understand that reaction. But one thing you can't accuse him of is any lack of imagination. If you've been bemoaning the lack of original and entertaining films at the summer multiplex, here's your antidote, with vision to spare. Snowpiercer is in limited release theatrically, but if push comes to shove, and you can't find a nearby theater, it's available on iTunes and video OnDemand - though I highly recommend seeing it in the theater. One of the year's most welcome and outrageous surprises.
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We saw this last night and I was completely blown away by the sheer amount of visual stunningness. It is rare that my home theatre experience does not do a movie justice and this was onbe of those eceptions. The reveals of the characters and plot as the train and story unwind were brilliant. There was enough deviance from the French graphic novel that this is really its own story.
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