Bong Joon-Ha, the Korean director, has given us Mother, The Host and now, Snowpiercer. The concept art for this movie blew us away. The cast includes Chris Evans, John Hurt, Tidla Swinton, Alison Pill and Octavia Spencer. The most recent trailer makes the far reaching concept look pretty exciting. Could this be the first breakthrough for one of the talents of the recent wave of Korean film maestros?
The animated prequel below sets up the story but, in summary, end of world scenario, the survivors are riding around in a train that never stops, the rich up front, and the poors at the back. Class warfare. Best fights on a train since Under Siege 2 and From Russian With Love. Tilda Swinton looking like she has never done before (when are they going to give this woman an Oscar).
When you write it down it does sound absurd and a little wtf, but who can resist a movie with a dystopian post-apocalyptic vision these days or avoid one for that matter.
However, the good news is that despite our cynism the Hollywood Reporter is saying:
As it stands, Snowpiercer is still an intellectually and artistically superior vehicle to many of the end-of-days futuristic action thrillers out there.
This is the French trailer, which seems appropriate because the film is based on a French comic.