Snowpiercer Review: Riveting take of Marxism on a Train

Snowpiercer explores class disparity through social stratification in a train.

The cast delivers solid performances with Chris Evans capable enough to carry the film. Predictably, Tilda Swinton is a standout as the devoted representative for the mysterious Wilford. As the ragtag of rebels plod on, the film shows different sections of the train each with its own purpose and themes. The production design is detailed and vivid with hints of steampunk.

The closed society is exaggerated but mirrors parts of our own. Education is propaganda. Decadence and privilege coexisting with abject poverty through creative set-pieces. Class warfare is manifested through bloody showdowns of choreographed action scenes.

The film is rough, riveting, violent, grimy, and thematic. But it’s also crammed with concepts that it barely has room for storytelling.

Snowpiercer glosses over gaps in the plot. The characters are hollow. The villains are cartoonish. The narrative is a mixed bag of lower-class unrest, ghettoization, satire, and Marxism.

In the end, the movie finally remembers what it’s trying to say in the first place and manages to string together all its ideas.

Overall, Snowpiercer is a smart and interesting sci-fi action film with original concepts – protein blocks with a plausible resource and ax-wielding hooligans imported from Kiev – that are as multifaceted as its self-contained world.