Chris Evans is best known for his portrayal of Captain America in the MCU and is now finding newfound attention for the same role after his confirmed return in Avengers: Doomsday. However, somewhere around the time when the MCU movies started peaking, Evans played the lead in an incredible sci-fi movie that has aged unbelievably well.
Compared to most mainstream sci-fi flicks, the film in question remains relatively obscure. But after all these years, it still deserves to be appreciated because of its chilling portrayal of a post-apocalyptic world and class warfare. The Chris Evans movie in question is Bong Jon Ho’s Snowpiercer, which premiered in 2013 and holds an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%.
What Is Snowpiercer About?
Snowpiercer is based on the French climate fiction graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette. Almost thoughtout its runtime, it unfolds inside a constantly moving train that encircles the world. The world outside the train is portrayed to be uninhabitable for humans after a climate engineering experiment went wrong, leaving the last remnants of survivors inside the train.
While the rich upper class lives a privileged life in the front portion of the train, the lower class are stuffed in the tail section, forced to live under horrible conditions. This, however, changes when Chris Evans’ character, Curtis, leads a movement against the upper class and leads his people to the front of the train.
Little does he realize that the train’s creator anticipates his arrival.
Snowpiercer Has Aged Well
Bong Joon Ho is best known for his portrayal of class divides in his Academy Award-winning movie, Parasite. However, before Parasite, he gave us a glimpse of his direction and storytelling forte in Snowpiercer. Like Parasite, the movie dabbles with hard-hitting themes surrounding systemic oppression and the illusion of social mobility.
From gripping actions sequences to hidden supernatural twists, Snowpiercer is jam-packed with it all. In one its most iconic action scenes, Snowpiercer also drops an awe-inspiring, perfectly timed twist that puts Bong Joon Ho’s directorial talent on full display.
Even today, what makes the film even more intriguing is that it almost comes off as a perfect follow-up to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Although it is not officially a sequel to the Roald Dahl adaptation, a plausible theory connects many a dot between the two franchises.
The movie’s use of practical effects to portray the interiors of the central train allows it to retain a visual timelessness that resists rapid technological aging. Even the film’s cast brims with exceptionally talented stars, like Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris, Song King-ho, Chris Evans, and Octavia Spencer, who elevate the film’s immersive action and post-apocalyptic drama.
The Snowpiercer TV Show Didn’t Live Up To The Movie
In my opinion, Snowpiercer never had any real franchise potential. The movie’s setting and post-apocalyptic story is wildly fantastical and only works well as an allegory for the real world. It never seemed to have the narrative foundation to work beyond the class-divide metaphor.
While the Snowpiercer show still manages to make it work with good performances, fleshed-out characters, and fun story beats, it does not even come close to being as hard-hitting and memorable as the movie.
The Snowpiercer show is great for popcorn entertainment but viewers expecting it to match the Chris Evans movie will be left disappointed. Despite this, it is still worth watching if one wishes to experience more world-building surrounding the central train and its people from the film.
