I had no idea what this film was about but when I saw the theatrical poster and read ‘Tilda Swinton’, I was sold. Unfortunately the film wasn’t showing on any of the theaters back in Alabang so I had to make my way to Glorietta 4 to watch it.

Here’s the round up of Joon-ho Bong’s first english film, Snow Piercer.

Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

The film is based on the french comic Le Transperceneige and is set in the distant future where, after a botched attempt to cure global warming, the earth is frozen over and all that’s left of humanity is stuck inside a Snow Piercer, a train that circuits around the world. It is a self-sustaining machine, one that can never stop the engine lest it, along with its passengers, freeze as well.

In a world where whoever controls the engine controls the train, the mysterious engine man Wilford (Ed Harris – Man On A Ledge) dictates everything, with the assistance of his secretary Mason (Tilda Swinton – Chronicles of Narnia) . Wilford is obsessed with achieving the perfect “balance” where the people up front in first class live lavishly, while the people crammed at the back of the train suffer through inhuman living conditions. Well, the lower class have had enough and under the reluctant leadership of Curtis (Chris Evans – Captain America, Push) and the tutelage of Gilliam (John Hurt – the Harry Potter series), they revolt. They enlist the help of former security officer turned prisoner drug addict Namgong Minsu (Kang-ho Song) and his daughter Yona (Ah-sung Ko) to break through the multiple gates of the train so they can reach the engine room.

THE GOOD:

1. The asian girl. Yona was delightfully loony. In fact, she reminded me so much of Luna Lovegood. The acting wasn’t anything special but because she was the sole light and bubbly character in the film, she stands out. I just didn’t get the whole clairvoyance thing.

2. The asian man. That bit at the end when he says that he was collecting Kronnel because it can be turned into a bomb was epic. It’s fantastic a slap to the face to everybody who’s ever belittled him in the film and the surge of respect you have for him is powerful.

3. Wilford. Aside from the delicious timbre of his voice, it’s always fantastic to meet a villain who you understand. While you don’t necessarily agree with every turn of his twisted logic, you still get why he does what he does. It’s a testament to the strength of the character when you as an audience get tempted by what he’s offering.

4. Tilda Swinton. I still don’t know if the character she played is a man or a woman; I remember somebody calling Mason ‘sir’ but she looks like a woman. In e end I guess it doesn’t matter because the character is effectively creepy and ruthless regardless of the gender.

5. The concept. It’s a unique plot and something that I’ve never seen or heard of before which you know, props.

THE BAD:

1. Chris evans’s scrunched up face. It’s so unpretty, you hardly recognize him as Chris Evans. Although in retrospect maybe that was the point?

2. The guy who refused to die. There’s this thug called Franco Elder (Vlad Ivanov) who just freakin’ refused to die. I mean, I’d buy it if he got up like twice or something in the film but this was just ridiculous.

3. That they killed off Jamie Bell too soon. Necessary evil and all that, but I wish he could’ve made it further into the story. I felt that would’ve made Curtis’ revelation more hard hittting had we seen how much he mattered.

THE UGLY:

1. The violence. For a bunch of people harping about the injustice and unfairness of it all, they got really brutal in achieving what they wanted. It seemed a bit hypocritical to me that they’d dish out the same hatred like animals to the people in charge. Doesn’t that just validate Wilford’s notions that they did in fact need to be controlled?

2. That lingering feeling one gets after seeing it that there’s a point to all this but you don’t get it. I mean, yeah, yeah the world is unfair and socially imbalanced but what else?

3. The ending. Really??? I can’t help but think that they’d survived all that only to be eaten by polar bears.

All in all it’s a good movie. The plot is solid and unique and the director knew where he was going so he had no troubles leading his actors there. You get solid performances from all of the cast and while you don’t really get attached to any of them, there is still concern for what happens to them next. It’s not as intellectually heavy as I thought which is a plus, considering the material.

VERDICT: 8.5/10. See it while you still can.

*All images are from the film’s IMDB page.