Snowpiercer

It's not bad. I gave a 7 with the potential for higher numbers as this progresses. Not sure why others gave such harsh reviews and low numbers. Geeesh give a new show a chance! I never saw the movie, so I have no comparison to offer. For a first episode I'm intrigued enough to want to see more. Isn't that what most want from a pilot episode? Plenty of characters and potential for expanding storylines. The hour went by very quickly and previewed the upcoming season at the end of the episode. If you liked the Hunger Games this seems to be a similar vibe, although more gritty.

Like most people, I enjoyed the movie enough to give this show a chance. Season 1 was good enough, with some glaring issues but not TOO many. Season 2 was still watchable, but a clear decline in quality. As for Season 3, it has been painful just to get through each episode, and I'm only still going because I very rarely just stop watching something mid season after I've invested many hours in it already. I truly don't even know where to begin, when explaining why the current season has been so bad. Many reviews have already stated how bad of an actor the guy who plays Layton is, but even the characters who were once interesting and often likeable are barely recognizable anymore. Also, the attempts at artistic shots and dialogue fall flat every single time; it feels like a college student wrote most of the monologs. I'm currently on episode 8 of Season 3 and will, at the very least, finish with this season... but not because it is interesting or captivating. Rather, just out of a general curiosity to see where they're going with the show and to confirm my theory that it can't get any worse (even though episode 7 proved me to be painfully wrong already). You've been warned.

Season 1 review. Will update if needed after season 2.

Not too bad of a show, but has some issues that really drag it down.

Acting is a very mixed bag. Jennifer Connelly does a good job as Melanie Cavill and I also enjoyed some of the supporting roles like Ruth and Miss Audrey, even though most of those supporting roles don't add a whole lot of meat to the story and often feel like underdeveloped, missed opportunities.

While not always or necessarily a bad thing, a lot of characters are one-dimensional caricatures, perhaps more fitting for a cartoon. This works well for some, like Ruth, but not too great for most, like LJ.

There's way too much overacting in general, where the performances of the actresses playing Josie and Bess stand out as pretty bad on average in that regard.

The biggest issue with the acting though, is the lead actor, Daveed Diggs. The guy can't act and he has no presence. His eyes are always empty and he is apparently only able to produce one facial expression. His monotonous voice and inflection also don't match the character. I always see the actor trying to play a character, never the character itself. It really breaks immersion. Massive miscast here and easily the weakest link of the show.

Immersion is broken even more by the fact that his character is all over the place and isn't believable at all in most of the contexts he finds himself in. This isn't a revolutionary leader, but a street corner criminal at best.

He's not even likeable, being that self-righteous smart ass know-it-all (while still failing to accomplish anything), with his unfitting nonchalant demeanor and hilariously large wig.

CGI is mostly well done. Music is good, and I do like the overall atmosphere it tries to create.

The general story is interesting enough to keep me wanting to know what's going to happen next. The first three or so episodes don't make a whole lot of sense in hindsight and I feel the story is a bit too shallow in most of what it tries to accomplish.

This could have been an easy 8 or 9 if the casting and acting would have been better, possibly also while burning through the story a bit slower and not focussing on the rather unoriginal and obvious stuff.

I can't really give this more than barely a 6/10 in it's current form, even though I enjoyed some parts more than that rating would suggest. Will update the score after season 2, if needed.

First of all lets make one think clear, this is a show in a sci-fi setting and Sci-fi has always been experimenting with cheesy and illogical concepts. I don't know why people forgot that. Of cource the idea of a endlessly running train isn't realistic nor would the class system of the train work in real life, but thats not the point of the show. You wouldn't say that fighting with laser swords or travelling through time in a car is very realistic, but it is definitely fun to watch. That is why (at least for me) Snowpiercer works. Is it a show that would win awards for groundbraking acting or writing? No, probably not. But the story is definitely thrilling, the set pieces are fascinating and I am extremely invested in the show.

Whoever made the decision to film season 4 with an abundance of close-ups, hand held cameras, and what looks like cell phones in the season 4 opener, really should be forced to sit on an anthill. That's what watching this show is like. The jump cuts, shaky camera work, jeez, what are they thinking. Let me guess, some "creative thinker" thought, lets give the show a claustrophobic feel with tight shots. This is what happens when someone surrounds themselves with sycophants who tell them they're geniuses. Or it's the fall back on the back of for a show that is not very interesting and is reaching for something it has lost and can't get back. It's the cinematic equivalent of jumping the shark. It reeks of desperation. This shows camera work is physically painful to watch..