Snowpiercer Season 2 (2021) Review

Though I wasn't a huge fan of the first season of Snowpiercer, when the second season came around I decided to watch it and today the season finished and here is my review for it. The premise of the season sees Mr Wilford and his Big Alice train arrive to Snowpiercer where a conflict between him and the surviving leaders of the train commences. 

Main Character

Sean Bean makes his debut as Mr Wilford and he is honestly the best thing about this show. He is the injection of charisma and devilry that you can't stop watching him and his presence is what really drives the show. Wilford is such a fascinating character and his addition to the show is exactly what was needed to inject some real intrigue and depth to the show. Daveed Diggs is back as Layton and similar to the first season I just really struggled to care about his character, the actor is great but Layton is such a dull character that it really hurts the show. I actually thought this season he was even worse and actually pretty unlikeable at times and for me it really dragged down the overall quality. 

Supporting Characters

Jennifer Connelly's character as Melanie is given more depth this season even though she is in the show a lot less and even though her character is really important to the overall plot and Connelly does a good job with the work that she is given. Alison Wright as Ruth wasn't my favourite part of the first season but I thought she was fantastic this season, her character is really complex and really stuck between a rock and a hard place with Wright giving a great performance in the show. But the rest of the cast aren't that great or just don't get enough to work with. The train is full of characters and I just didn't care about a lot of them, Characters such as Bess, LJ and Audrey are just annoying and don't add much to the show which is a big shame for its female cast as it is a mixed bag in terms of the characters that they are given. 

Story 

The story is good, the conflict between Wilford and Layton is pretty interesting and the show does a good job in showing how conflicted the train becomes when Wilford returns and at least for the first act of the show it keeps this going pretty well. But this show gets really bogged down by some supporting characters and stories which could have easily been shortened or left out of the show to make it a more concise and effective storytelling experience. 

Script

The script, is quite effective in terms of the drama that it builds amongst the train, it continues the tension created by the season 1 finale and builds on it nicely and creates even more depth and drama. But this show takes itself incredibly seriously and at times it is a bit too heavy and also the show suffers from the plot being all over the place in terms of the different characters and the story that is being told. 

Style 

The style of the show does a good job with its visual style, it shows the difference between the different parts of the train and the class systems and how they have changed since the first season. The violence still feels very severe and harsh which fits the dystopian world that has been created in this world. But the pacing of the show just doesn't quite work, if they cut some of the plot or a couple of episodes then this would be a much better show. 

Overall

Overall, the 2nd season of Snowpiercer is an average show. It's funny cause the show does some things better then the first season but overall it is slightly worse and I just am not sure this show has a huge long term future and not one for people to rush to watch. 

Rating - 5/10

Snowpiercer (2013) Review

So after watching the first season of the show Snowpiercer, I have decided to go back and watch the film called the main title. This film is based on a book and was bought to the cinema screen in 2013 and here is my review for it. The premise of the film sees after the world is destroyed a group of human survivors are living on a train where different ends of the train clash. 

Main Character

Chris Evans plays the main character here and he is really good, it is funny how at this point I find it strange to see him and not think of Captain America but he does that well. He is seen as this leader of the worse off population and you just see how it affects him and puts the stress on him as he goes on. His character has plenty of depth and by the end of the film you see this character in a different light which is a true testimony to the great script and Evans great performance. 

Supporting Cast

Jamie Bell is an actor who has gained decent recognition but I have to be honest I have never been that impressed but I thought he was good here. His chemistry with Evans is well done and I liked how his character has some energy here and really adds some life to this film. Tilda Swinton has a role here as one of the upper class and she was truly fantastic here, she was so good I had to check online that it was her as she transformed herself. She has quite a bit of dark humour here and I thought it played off the other characters very well. Kang-Ho Sung who was in Parasite and Ko Asung play interesting parts in the film and I don't want to go into too much detail as there are some surprises but they both do a really good job and are some of the more interesting characters here. The late John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris & Ewan Bremner also do good jobs in their roles here. 

Story

The story is really interesting, really we are alongside the people in the back at the train called the tail and we see the train with them. It feels like we are on a journey with these people as we see different parts of the train at the same time as they do. The characters are really well written and it makes them feel more complex and not one dimensional characters. But I thought there was maybe even more they could have done with the story, there are parts of the train they go though that maybe I thought they could have explored a bit longer and in more depth. 

Script

The script here is expertly written, there is a great amount of drama that is both horrifying and tense throughout. Also there is a nice injection of dark humour in there, mainly from Swinton's character which is why she feels like an important cog in this film. 

Style

Bong Joon Ho the director of the amazing Parasite is the director here and he gives a great visual experience here. It shows the different levels of the train brilliantly and I got a better idea of the class system then the show by just following these people which is really well done. But also I thought the action scenes aren't truly great, there is plenty of shaky cam here and over use of slow mo and it does hold it back a bit. 

Overall 

Overall, this is a great unique experience, it is chilling and claustrophobic and feels like a great film. This is a great experience and a film that is a great film to watch and I would advise watching Snowpiercer for sure. 

Rating - 8/10  

Snowpiercer Season 1 (2020) Review

So this show recently finished its run on Netflix and I have now finished the first season of Snowpiercer and here is my review for it. The premise of the season sees after the world has frozen over a train full of survivors have to fight society and class issues. 

Main Character

Jennifer Conolly plays a lead character here and I thought she did a good job. She is a really good actress and her character is pretty well fleshed out and as the highest person on the train you see the situation from her point of view and I think the show achieves this target well. Daveed Diggs also plays a main role here and first I must mention he was fantastic in Hamilton even though I forgot to mention him in my review for that film and he is also good here. He has a charismatic nature to him, not as much as Hamilton but it is still here and you see why he is seen as the leader of the lower classes of the train. He is a character that is easy to root for and one that does have an interesting moral compass that maybe isn't as simple as I originally thought it would be. 

Supporting Characters

The supporting cast is a bit of a mixed bag here, there were so many characters some I liked some I didn't like much. Firstly, Steven Ogg is here and I love this actor and when he is on screen he is so great on this show, it is just he isn't here enough and is really underutilised. Also Alison Wright plays a character called Ruth and she gets better as the show goes on and I found her character interesting and a bit tragic in the way that she thinks. But there are also a few characters I didn't really care about such as Mickey Sumner as Bess, her character is very dull and I really didn't care about the romance involving her and clearly the show doesn't as they forget about it. There are also other performances, mainly younger ones that I found hard to care about and found a bit cringe at times. 

Story

The story of the different classes is interesting enough, being set on a train is really interesting and seeing the different levels of the train is an interesting aspect of the show and there is a twist in the last half of the show that I thought worked well. But I felt like there was a bit of a missed opportunity the class divide story feels a bit simple and lacking the shades of grey required to raise this story up. Also there is a story arc in the first half of the season that lacked a natural conclusion and it kind of feels like a waste of time. 

Script

The script here is pretty by the numbers, there is some decent drama here and a few bits of humour but nothing that ever stood out for me. There was never that moment that is truly memorable or makes any of the characters really stand out more. 

Style

The style in the train is pretty cool, lighting is used pretty well to show the differences in the cars on the train and the difference in the classes of people. There are also some brutal sequences on the show that fit the nature of the tone of the show well. Though there are probably a few too many episodes here and the actual train here is really CGI and it just doesn't look very good at all. 

Overall

Overall, this is a decent show, it has plenty of issues that most people have seen but I think there is real potential here for a much better second season so maybe this is one to give some time to watch, but only if you are a patient watcher.

Rating - 6/10