Snowpiercer [Celluloid Hero]

Snowpiercer  (2013)

In 2014, the world governments were so concerned with the threat of global warming, they allowed scientist to spew chemicals in the air to combat it. The chemicals, however, worked too well. The earth was plunged into a second Ice Age, wiping out nearly all life on the planet. Those who survived live on a train, the Snowpiercer, which is perpetually moving on a track that covers the entire globe. Everything up until that last sentence was somewhat believable, but the last sentence is what makes it a fun movie.

Aboard the Snowpiercer, a perfect microcosm of world society develops. The poorest live in the back of the train, wearing rags and eating mass-produced protein jelly bars. During the train's fifteen year journey, a few revolts have happened as the poor try to rise up, but they were all squashed. The movie picks up as Curtis (Chris Evans) decides to start his own revolution. He and his group fight their way from one of the train to the other, discovering some horrible secrets along the way.

Park Chan-wook is a Korean director I really enjoy, and he had a role as producer for this. I could see some influences of his in the style of director Bong Joon-ho. The nature of a train lends itself to long tracking side-scrolling shots. It also provides a nice contrast in settings. You have literally the entire planet speeding by the outside of this train, compared to these narrow metal tubes that make up each car.

For a simple action movie, it works pretty well. The poor rise up, fight against their oppressors, each side suffers a high death count, the hero's journey has hills and valleys.  For a deeper commentary, it works just as well. The poor suffer while the rich prosper. It's a pessimistic view on world politics, and I'm not really here to espouse my own beliefs, but when painting in broad strokes, I tend to agree with the "We Are the 99%" philosophy.

If you try to interpret the movie realistically, there are about a million plotholes. Even if they're not true "plotholes", they are at least logistical impossibilities when you're talking about a self-sustaining, perpetually-moving bullet train that circumnavigates the globe on one endless track. The movie does, however, do a good job at keeping my suspension of disbelief, so it ends up being an enjoyable ride.

On the [Celluloid Hero] scale, "Snowpiercer" gets a 7 out of 10.