Snowpiercer is out on Netflix, and I know what you're thinking: "The Day After Tomorrow meets Unstoppable, right?" Wrong. Snowpiercer looks like total camp, it might even start out that way. But if you can make it through the first five minutes you'll be rewarded with a surprisingly engaging sci-fi parable of global irresponsibility.
This film is set in a post-apocalyptic future, where a climate change experiment gone wrong has created a global ice age. The last remaining survivors live on a globe circling train that has developed a class system. Led by Curtis Everett (Chris Evans), the poor in the tail section slum start a rebellion to take the engine of the train. What follows is enough to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
This film is set in a post-apocalyptic future, where a climate change experiment gone wrong has created a global ice age. The last remaining survivors live on a globe circling train that has developed a class system. Led by Curtis Everett (Chris Evans), the poor in the tail section slum start a rebellion to take the engine of the train. What follows is enough to keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. Snowpiercer is based on a graphic novel. That may not mean anything to you, or if you're from a certain generation, it may even mean the wrong thing. But what it should tell us is that there is more here than meets the eye. Ever since they were first popularized by Will Eisner's A Contract With God in the early '70s, thoughtful artists and writers have used the the long-form comic to convey meaningful messages. For example, Maus (1980) told the true story of a holocaust survivor, using cats and mice as characters to illustrate the terror and powerlessness of Jews in the face of Nazi Germany. And Watchmen (1987) examined power and politics at the peak of the Reagan era, asking the question "Who watches the watchmen?"
Granted, Snowpiercer strays far from the graphic novel it is based on. But it retains its depth by offering us a strict warning about paying attention to and investing in the developing world before it is too late. [Spoiler alert] Those in the opulently equipped front of the train seem to be ignorant as to the horrific living conditions in the caboose section, despite the fact that their comfortably decadent lifestyle is presumed upon it. When the rebellion finally arrives, shock quickly turns to violence and bloodshed as those in the front attempt to protect their way of life against something they do not understand.
We live in a similar situation, where for far too long, we in the West have been ignorant as to the effects of colonialism in the Middle East and the developing world. Without rehashing details that others on both sides of the aisle have made (just a few: here, here and here), it seems clear that naive foreign involvement in the Middle East stretching at least as far back as British colonialism, has been influential in the formation of radical terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda.
Snowpiercer doesn't pretend to have an answer to these problems; it's just fun a sci-fi flick, after all. For that, we need to look to other places. Still, it's worth watching. And after you see it, I'd love to know what you think. Leave your thoughts below!
Granted, Snowpiercer strays far from the graphic novel it is based on. But it retains its depth by offering us a strict warning about paying attention to and investing in the developing world before it is too late. [Spoiler alert] Those in the opulently equipped front of the train seem to be ignorant as to the horrific living conditions in the caboose section, despite the fact that their comfortably decadent lifestyle is presumed upon it. When the rebellion finally arrives, shock quickly turns to violence and bloodshed as those in the front attempt to protect their way of life against something they do not understand.
We live in a similar situation, where for far too long, we in the West have been ignorant as to the effects of colonialism in the Middle East and the developing world. Without rehashing details that others on both sides of the aisle have made (just a few: here, here and here), it seems clear that naive foreign involvement in the Middle East stretching at least as far back as British colonialism, has been influential in the formation of radical terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda.
Snowpiercer doesn't pretend to have an answer to these problems; it's just fun a sci-fi flick, after all. For that, we need to look to other places. Still, it's worth watching. And after you see it, I'd love to know what you think. Leave your thoughts below!
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