Written to avoid giving everything away, but some spoilers couldn't be helped:
Perhaps because they both feature memorable scenes
with edible bars Snowpiercer reminded
me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Of
course, such a compartmentalized journey towards promised truths as the one directed
by Joon-ho Bong is also reminiscent of the always popular Alice in Wonderland or the ever prosaic Matrix trilogy. This story is not a new one. Plato could recite it.
After all, what is a train but a cave traveling at hundreds of miles per hour? However,
the trick to presenting familiar questions with even more familiar answers—such
as a revolution waiting on a messiah—is always in the presentation. A cave
becomes Wonderland becomes Oz becomes a farm with rebellious pigs becomes a
chocolate factory becomes a train. Often times, these changes in illusory
settings are cosmetic. But the grittiness of Bong’s train allows for alternative solutions, seemingly.