Silas R
It doesn't make any sense. So many plot holes that it was impossible to enjoy. Thoroughly dumb.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/24
Full Review
Diana S
Very entertaining but in my opinion not as stupendous as one might infer from critic reviews. I think Ed Harris' performance was about as muted as he's ever been over the course of his entire career, and I think it points to some problems in the story. I liked the ending in theory but hated the execution. Also the seemingly endless monologues made me want to die in an avalanche.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/17/24
Full Review
Benjamin A
Snowpiercer is a 2013 South Korean movie directed by Bong Joon-ho with a budget of around 40 million dollars. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic future where a failed attempt to pause global warming lead to the world freezing over and everyone left alive stuck on a train, the movie follows a man named Curtis, one of many people living in the back where poor citizens are forced to stay. Unhappy with how he and others are treated in the back, he starts a revolution to try and make it to the front of the train to take it over and overthrow the ruling upper class citizens.
To begin, the plot and the subplots of the movie do blend well together and make the movie easy to follow. The script of the movie is acceptable, with the dialogue being believable and helping viewers understand the characters' feelings. Along with this, the acting of the movie is above average. In particular, Octavia Spencer's performance of the character Tanya was excellent and adds realism to the movie via her reactions to certain events. The themes of the movie, however, are at times a little hard to see. While class themes are clear to see through the treatment of the lower class by upper class citizens, the religious allegory located within the film is harder to spot, taking more attention to find, especially if one is atheist. The setting of the movie is believable and adds to the script and plot. More specifically, the cramped and run-down look of the poor area combines to help the setting feel realistic, the same being true for the more vibrant and spacious feel of the rich areas.
Continuing, the directing done by Bong Joon-ho for Snowpiercer left something to be desired in some areas, especially during action scenes. The sound design was also lacking during these parts, especially blood splatter sound effects, which did not sound realistic and took me out of the movie. The cinematography was okay for the most part, though the camera work was below average at times. While the camera shaking did match most of the time due to the movie taking place on a train, there were times where the shaking made it nearly impossible to focus on the movie. I do understand, however, that this was a common thing to do in movies at the time. The lighting supported the setting in both areas of the train; more dimmer lighting in the poor area assisted with the run-down feel while the brighter, natural light contributed to the vibrant appearance in the rich area. Furthermore, the coloring of clothes also helped to separate the rich and poor, especially in scenes where Minister Mason's colorful attire contrasted with the dull clothing of the poor. Another thing done well was how the movie was put together; the film flowed from scene to scene without much interruption. The score also did its job, helping to add tension to scenes where it was needed. The special effects, however, were lacking in multiple scenes. An instance of this is when bugs were shown inside of a machine, where although the ickiness was established, the CGI bugs looked unrealistic and once again, took me out of the movie.
While there were some instances where things could have been done better, the movie was an enjoyable experience. One thing that needed to be improved were the action scenes as they left a lot to be desired. I do feel that the movie did suffer in some areas due to the smaller budget such as practical effects, but I think the director did well with the money available. Overall, although I am unlikely to watch this film again, I would rate it a seven out of ten.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/12/24
Full Review
Caitlyn S
Snowpiercer: Honest Thoughts and Opinions
The movie Snowpiercer plays with lighting and sound design to assist the audience with the plot and staying immersed in the movie. This film is one of Bong Joon-ho's earlier creations and being his first English film it is easy to view some of the unprofessional areas where he lacked expertise or funds, yet aspects like acting, script, and set design pull through to make the movie come together. Also, viewing the plot and directing abilities and how the cinematography makes the story feel believable.
The story feels as though it jumps from feeling realistic to unbelievable at times, and the plot twists feel as though they are trying to be too unexpected, as though Joon-ho wants one not to be able to understand the full story the first time they watch it. The script, however, is well-written enough for the watcher to understand the plot, and the acting makes the delivery realistic for the situation the characters are in, when in a dire, stressful situation they portray this feeling of urgency, or making the audience dislike a character because they are supposed to. Things like costume design play into this as well, showing how the poorer characters are in rags while the richer characters are dressed presentable as if to show off what they have in the back car.
The cinematography in Snowpircer is strong the camera work makes the watcher feel like they are part of the group at points, then switches to outside perspectives occasionally. The process of them moving forward in the train is also portrayed through the setting and lighting, getting brighter and cleaner as the group gets further in the train, while in the back it is dark and grungy, and the makeup on the characters is done in a way that makes the dirt and grime believable, even while they are shrouded in dim warm light. It may not be consistent, but they are constantly fighting and sweating so it makes sense to move or change throughout the film.
Music is not a very prominent element of the movie, almost lacking in some scenes that would benefit from it. Even with a quiet instrumental in the background, at times the placement of the score feels awkward, yet it is still thoughtfully placed throughout the film. The editing of the fight scenes feels tacky with the slow motion as Curtis is fighting, at times it could be necessary, but it feels overdone and like a crutch in the film. Along with the fight scenes the sound design and special effects feel skimped out, almost as though they were running out of a budget in that department. The blood feels too thin and unrealistic even the makeup feels off, and the odd crunches as the fighting is happening could pull the watcher out of the experience, defeating the purpose of the movie.
Snowpiercer overall is an okay movie aspects like the camera work and set design engaged me in the film, but the sound design and lack of realness pulled my attention away from the story. However, one can see how Joon-ho can grow from this film and improve his abilities as a director (and budget). I would give this movie a seven out of ten, as there are only a few places that irked me enough to consider it an awful film I would give it another watch.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/12/24
Full Review
Alina J
Snowpiecer: An Underwhelming Experience
Snowpiecer is a movie about a train that contains the last survivors on Earth. The train was built to help the people outlive the massive failure of scientists to cool the Earth, which ended up allegedly killing all living things except the people on the train. The train is divided by wealth, and the poorest people are at the back of the train. The passengers in the back are sick and tired of the horrible treatment they have received, so they decide to try and take control of the engine.
The plot of the movie is simple in theory, but the more one thinks about how this would actually work and how all the pieces fit together, like Kronole and Yona's clairvoyance, it is hard to find meaning without looking at the themes. While the two major themes in this movie, classism and religion, give the movie a purpose, the religious theme is hard to find on the first watch. The script does allude to eternal life and speaking of Wilford like God, but without prior knowledge of Christianity, it is hard to grasp. On the other hand, the message behind the classism theme is done well, easy to spot, and allows the viewer to reflect. From what is explained to the viewers at the beginning of the movie, the setting is pretty accurate and realistic. In combination with some of the movie's characteristics, the setting is able to come to life.
The camera work in this movie helped to make it seem realistic, unlike the story. The camera was shaking most of the movie, especially during action scenes, and followed the movements of a train. The clips were edited nicely together, except for the fight scenes. It seemed that the director, Bong Joon-ho, needed help choreographing, executing camera work ideas, and dubbing in sounds to make the fights seem more put together and less scripted. The sound design in this movie was horrible because it was easy to tell that the sound was artificial, like the noises during any altercation. With that in mind, the special effects were lacking and have aged terribly. The makeup that was used for the blood was too watery. However, the lighting, colors, and costumes used during this movie added to the class theme. The back of the train was like Namgoong's prison drawer—dark and dirty. The lighting in the back was dim with yellow lights, and characters had torn-apart clothing. As the characters get closer to the middle of the train, the cleanliness of the rooms improves, the lighting becomes brighter and has more of a white hue, and the characters inside these carts have bright and clean clothes. The music was never overpowering and fit the vibe of the scenes that it was added to. Some actors in this did a fantastic job, while others were okay. Tilda Swinton made her character hateable, and Octavia Spencer's acting was spot on for how her character would be reacting.
Overall, I give this movie three out of five stars. I was entertained while watching it the first time, but I will not be watching it again. The fight scenes needed work, and since those were happening very often in the movie, it made it hard to enjoy. The classism theme was executed well during this movie, and that made the movie much better.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/13/24
Full Review
Rhett W
After viewing the movie Snowpiercer it is important to understand the elements of the South Korean check film in its entirety; in the beginning, the tone is sight by the lighting, color, camera angles, and Adam? Panning in on Curtis when the police unit did the initial head count immediately signified he was a character of importance and for the most part Chris Evans delivered in every aspect with his role. With an honorable mention to Tilda Swinton, who had a remarkable performance as Minister Mason. Leading directly to the acting and cast chosen by the director, while it is understandable that when a movie with a budget hires a member like Chris Evans, the budget for computer-generated imagery, the gore, action and fight scenes all lacked an it factor due to the money being unproportionally spent on acting.
The scripture, directing, and story as a whole can be looked at through two different lenses. Where this film exemplifies that the class systems are spread throughout the train and breaking the balance between them leads to chaos and dysfunction, it is also important to realize the religious allegory that is Snowpiercer. Using Wilford and Gilliam as an example, similarly to God and Jesus there is a connection made between the wealthiest or highest class to the less fortunate or poor class. The most compelling part is seeing Namgoon through the lens of an atheist and understanding that he does not believe in the eternal engine or living on the train falls directly under the scripting and storytelling, and gives the audience the actual protaganist in a brilliant fashion. Even though the story is used in two different fashions the setting at times feels strange, the editing and sounds give an idea that they are on a moving train. Every time it shows the outside world from the perspective of characters out of the windows it falls back on CGI as well and takes the audience out of the movie with unrealistic shots of huge discolored ice blocks and the attempt of the abandoned civilization were mediocre at best. The same sort of unrealistic feel can be used when viewing the fight scenes, Bong Joon-ho had really good ideas but poor execution for the most part combined with the slow motion and shaky camera strategy that was popular in the mid 2010's were both eye sores.
Things like sound design, music, special effects, makeup, costumes and set design are all able to be reviewed in the same light as they play roles in transitions and the moving throughout the train. The music was non-existent really as there was only a single instance of a song used when they are in the the elementary school lile section of the train with the children and the teacher that only can be assumed as a matriarchy providing education or the milk in this instance; it is instead sound cues and noises alongside rapid and inconsistent transition realize the characters are moving further away from the back of the train. It should also be noted that while the initial costumes and makeup are harder to see in the dark lighting, as they move further away from the back of the train it seems as if the costumes were slightly changed and the purity of the higher classes cleansed them of the dirt and cuts they had sustained in the back of the train.
Taking everything into account for this movie it is clear that while the movie had its flaws the budget for the movie is also something that needs to be taken into consideration when judging properly. The fact that they were able to create the effect of a train and create an allegory on a budget while also putting to shame the narrative that higher class citizens are better then everyone else is a very solid achievement. Rating this movie out of ten, a proper and fitting score is 6.5/10 as there is neither mind blowing content nor any major issues.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/12/24
Full Review
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