Was reminded of this movie recently, and for some reason felt I had to see it again...

It's a post-apocalyptic science fiction Korean film based on the graphic French climate fiction novel Le Transperceneige, by Jacques Lob.

I'd like to read that book.

I didn't remember if the movie was horror or action - I recalled the insect scene strongly, but little else. I do remember it being sci-fi, and dystopian, a post-apocalyptic movie where the remnants of humankind are stuck on a nuclear-driven train...

Turns out it's way more action than horror. It's never horror. There's discomfort, and action, and philosophy, and love. Little else.

Everything goes in cycles. Even in the logo. The proper, sustainable balance... is a hallmark of the film. And what irony it is that in the end the chaotic nature of humanity derails it all. But even then, there is hope...

Chris Evans - who I thought was Scott Eastwood initially - is the main protagonist.

Tilda Swinton's there too, and Ed Harris, for a while.

You might also recognize Song Kang-ho, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, Ko Asung, Alison Pill, the bald guy with the clear eyes, probably some others...

It really is a good movie. And the premise even more so than the film. It's about way more than the apocalypse. It's about the world. It's about us.

The special effects however did not age greatly, but everything else...

Great watch still.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

French movies hit different man. There's just something about them... and I'm not just saying that cause this one stars a bad-ass femme fatale cast that I really just enjoy seeing.

The blood's not perfect, the scripting's not perfect either, but the directing... the directing's special here, the settings, the faces, the places, the transitions... and the charm's on overload.

The sights make me want to move to France, and the unconventionally passionate sequences remind me that there's a world outside Hollywood too.

Like the naked fight scene. That was new. Wouldn't see that in an American movie! Would you? At least not with as revealing angles as you have here. A clothed woman fighting a naked man that is - it's been somewhat included in other films the other way around, like with the first Point Break with Keanu Reeves. Or wait was the girl there maybe just topless... that scene probably left an imprint more so because I watched it in school (the girls in class were a bit flustered about it) more than because it really was all out there. Other fully nude mainstream movie fights I cannot recall, I must have seen some, in Naked Weapon maybe...

Here it's a relatively buff naked black man fighting a petite (but pretty athletic) white girl no less though. Which was definitely new to me. Cultural diversity FTW. And what better to convey both the potential threat and the vulnerability of a man than with their being naked.

Of course would have been way more interesting were they both naked.

Anyway some stunts they don't really do justice, and the fights overall aren't amazingly complex or fluent, but some... some are real good. Real good. They get creative too. Not just with that one fight above.

The scripting though: I'm not 100% happy about that part.

Like did she just plan to leave Alex hanging a full four years? And how did Alex get off that roof in the first place? And the heist went way too easy - all complications considered - all things leading up to it too. Same with the final showdown. The Godmother... she deserved more.

The special-effects are heavy initially, and some scenes are a letdown, but it definitely wins me over along the way. Sexy and action-heavy as it is right from the start, and with plenty of intimacy and character bonding along the way. Though no full on high five I really love a movie like this.

Great watch.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Norwegian movie. About an American family who moves to Norway, to a house... with a barn.

The utopian winter landscapes are a nice contrast to the horror, the soundtrack's top-notch, the sfx too, they have real moose, they have a real American family too it seems - at least a real American male in the lead - which provides a real culture crash - and the family's a charming one from the start. Reminds me a bit of the new Ghostbusters movie but... better. Well no. Not really. Just closer. Scandinavia too. It's cool.

The filmography's so damn clean too. So bright. So sharp. It's unconventional horror, with comedy, one that parodies both America and Norway on an appreciatively equal basis - Norway maybe most of the two. Just hope more people don't start moving to Scandinavia after this...

The special effects are not great, not always, but... what a great movie after all.

It's close to home. Love the location; the people in it.

I'm especially impressed with Townes Bunner - the kid, though the whole family's so wholesome. Martin Starr, Amrita Acharia, Zoe Winther-Hansen. They're all so different, but somehow such an obvious family after all. Maybe the differences are really what make them a family after all...

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

In a post apocalyptic world run by vampires, only the strong survive. John Shepard, Vampire Hunter, is one of them. John has to track down and eliminate the master vampire before he himself gets turned.

Costas Mandylor - is he maybe related to that other B-movie actor Louis Mandylor? (Apparently they're brothers!) And Tara Reid is in the movie! I recognize a few of these guys...

The Devil always has been a symbol of the vampires. I haven't thought much about it before, but you have the crucifixes, you have the symbolism of evil and darkness and all... it's clear when you think about it. How have I never thought about it. I may not be religious but I ought see the symbolism.

Costas is a great hero here. The girls are greater. The biker's great. Johnny Huang's a good sidekick, and the Master's not bad either! The settings are good. The cars - though few - are legit too. The movie has a lot going for it, if only the choreography was better, if only...

It really is a B-movie, with all too much dialog, and all too much bickering between races, and not the most convincing actors always, or the most captivating fights, but once you start getting into it all... it is pretty exciting.

Good movie after all. And Bloodthirst 2 is coming... looking forward to seeing how that one turns out too.

 rated 3/5: not bad

The end's a bit predictable, but overall this is one interchangeably bright, and chaotic movie of the working man.

Starring Jim Broadbent as that working man - and leading man - who you'll probably recognize from a great many other British films.

Also notably Helen Mirren - whom I do know but didn't recognize at all here! Great actress, it goes to show.

The sceneries are reminiscent of the time the movie's from.

Of the Sixties, I suppose - I would've thought it was further back - in which Kempton Bunton, a 60 year old taxi driver, steals Goya's portrait of The Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London.

True story.

Which makes it all the cooler.

It is a little mediocre otherwise though.

Creative transitions. A charming cast. A fascinating story.

A bit simple beyond that.

 rated 3.5/5: not bad at all

Stumbled upon the second one of these just recently, and it was GOOD! Had to see this one too.

It follows a similar formula - starts the same way - mysteriously but meticulously, and builds from there, you don't know which way it's going....

And this one was waaay more brutal than the last one was! With the initial scene. The bomb scene. After that not so much.

I recognize the little kid, though they overplayed the little kid-edness on that scene, for real... do little kids actually act that way? Would he have been so gullible? And if he had been would be really have waited with the package while everybody was gathered around?

Everything else is solid though, even if there's not much action to show for it. There's a lot of stake-out, take-out and dialog, but the relations are nice to watch. I do love action but it's not bad with something like this either. Something a bit more realistic. Like for example with any other average action movie you'd for sure have had a violent confrontation with the sheriff, or with the perpetrator, or with SOMEONE, at least! Here you don't. The investigation's key, and everything else is just extraneous circumstance. They catch the bad guys in passing. Hell some are even caught before the movie begins.

I like it. It really is an investigation; they do things differently here. Though too many movies like this and I think it'd tire too... I definitely lean more for action than not, but it's nice to get a more technical; more social; more counter-intelligence counterpart every once in a while.

These guys do that well.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle