Based on a Korean movie from a few years back, we have an interesting and cerebral movie about some areligious apocalyptic environmental situation with those on some super adapted train trying to survive this nightmare.
The catch is that this train is an allegory on modern society, with the rich & the poor fighting over survival, rights and dignity with a ruling order that has too often a need to be cruel to be kind but itself is hiding dark secrets (surprise surprise!).
It's actually quite a smart but not necessarily difficult to understand show. The acting is fabulous by the ensemble with the wonderful Jennifer Connelly playing her best role in years as the chief engineer of the train. However it is Daveed Diggs as the smart & yet emotionally weak Andre Layton who is the de facto leader of the rebellion who we follow with interest.
The problem is that we've kind of already seen this story already a few times over recent years. For example the two adapted HBO/Sky TV series Westworld and Brave New World, and so far the first series of Snowpiercer sits somewhere in the void between those two series.
One major difference is this show avoids the long philosophical monologues that punctured some of the other shows, rather relying on action and visuals. It kind of works.
I just found that if you've not seen the other shows or the original film before then you'll enjoy this but if you have (like me) then you're sitting there pinpointing homages & adaptions from elsewhere. Also the story isn't that gripping, and too often I was kind of lost of what was going on and why. I still haven't fully grasped much of the reasons for this & that.
Maybe this first season is a fine first start, but as those other shows have shown, it all can fall off a cliff so quickly after the first season.
It's a fine show, and most will enjoy this. It's an intelligent viewing amongst all the dumbed down reality shows out there. Worth a viewing but I doubt that it will go on to rank amongst the best.