Review: Snowpiercer

It's a difficult task to truly capture the essence of another medium. Something will always get lost in the translation. Look at some of the other major blockbuster films of the past decade. Everyone is always gonna complain about what they left out from the Harry Potter films. Snowpiercer though, seems to do what other films recently couldn't: really get the feel of it's source material and balance it seamlessly within the confines of the medium that is cinema.

So, how does it swing this? Well, the original story is Le Transperceneige, a French graphic novel published 1982.

Now, whether or not it adheres to the story fully isn't the point. What I appreciate here is the feeling it captures.

Curtis' progression through the train plays like a graphic novel. Each car is a new panel of the story. As such, the panels have different aesthetics that create a gallery of wonderfully tense moments with appropriate breaks in between. It also creates a sense of journey. It's a story we've heard before right? It's a hero from the slums (or whatever poorer location you can imagine) trying to get to the all-knowing entity with a group of extreme characters.

We've had our Wizards of Oz and now we have our Snowpiercers.

Sure, they're very different in style and story. The fact of the matter is that the characters in both films are looking to solve their problems by going on a journey. It just so happens that along the way we get a sense of heart and courage.

Now, aside from it's brilliant capture of the graphic novel aesthetic, we also have a self-embodiment of theme.

The film has a consistent "machine" theme. It runs the audience through it's cogs introducing us to another piece of the ironwork. One could call it methodical in it's approach. This is no surprise. Joon-ho Bong has long been able to weave humor into horror then back into humor with the precision of a true master. It keeps us at the edge our seat without the worry that these characters will fall flat.

Oh boy. Those characters.

The characters that we embrace this journey with never lose even a twinge of humanity. They're extreme, yes, but that lends itself even more to the fact that it feels like a graphic novel. They still take on the actions that I genuinely feel these characters would take.

There's a pivotal moment about halfway through the film where Curtis has to make a choice. It's a choice that has gone either way in the history of story-telling. What matters though is what Curtis would do. Where does Curtis fit in with all those prior heroes? Once the choice is made, the film continues, validating the choice and creating an understanding.

It's character development by not necessarily adding new knowledge to the character mind, but rather revealing what the character already knew. It takes a master craftsman to present this cleanly. Joon-ho Bong does just that.

So in a sea of people clamoring for something original I implore you to watch Snowpiercer. It makes use of a unique dystopian back drop. It provides us with action sequences that are fresh and engaging. It satiates a want to know that filmmakers understand some of our great fears as well as our great hopes. The film is soaring. Join it for a truly wonderful ride.

★★★★★