This is my second year taking part in The Against the Crowd Blogathon and also my second year co-hosting alongside my blogging big brother, Dell On Movies. The premise is simple: find two movies – one that the world hates and you love, and one that the world loves and you hate; make your case for why the world is wrong and watch your comment section blow up. The two movies I’ve picked are perfect kindle for the fire I hope my praise and distaste for them, respectively, starts.

 

Now, I watch more movies than most but I actively avoid portraying myself as a movie connoisseur/snob who knows best BUT this is one of those times that I’m 100% convinced that I know better. Snowpiercer is a terrible movie no matter which way you look at it. Let’s start with its plot. The world freezes over and our best strategy to combat global extinction is…move to another planet? Create shelters that can withstand the cold? No, it’s to build a god-train that can somehow run endlessly on tracks that never need to be maintained. Are you serious? How would that even work? Don’t train tracks need maintenance? Don’t trains themselves undergo wear and tear? Is this train built out of Wolverine’s skeleton and does it run on tears from unicorns?

Nonsense premise aside, the film is also just so unoriginal. This film came out in a time when the world was engrossed in the victors of games of hunger, who proved themselves to be divergent from the norm while running through mazes. We’d seen the dystopian future built on an elitist class system and, trust me, we’d had enough. Snowpiercer takes the themes of its competitors, puts them in a blender and serves it up as original and refreshing. It isn’t.

The film is also so inconsistent, with characters going from being ass-kicking ninjas to powerless puppies. The film and its actors also take themselves far too seriously. I appreciate that Chris Evans was trying to avoid being typecast and wanted to take on a darker, grittier role but would it have killed him to smile? Even the hobo I pass everyday whose stomach is surely growling, finds a reason to smile everyday. Why couldn’t Evans give his character a moment of joy? This movie is pseudointellectual trash. It isn’t even intellectual, it’s just trash actually.

Now another place I’m convinced that I’m 100% right and the world is wrong is in my love of the Fast and Furious Franchise. It’s had some tough times, I don’t necessarily love every installment but one that I definitely do love is Fast and Furious (aka the fourth one). After (mistakenly) trying to carry this franchise on without the irreplaceable Vin Diesel, the franchise comes to its senses and enlists Vin and his patented whisper-growl for another high-octane ride. From the very first scene, we’re reminded of what we missed in Diesel’s absence. Yes, drifting is cool and driving in reverse at 100mph without looking at the road is pretty dope BUT it doesn’t quite live up to sliding a car under an exploding fuel truck in the Dominican Republic. That’s just the starter to the thrills that come with Diesel’s return.

The franchise goes back to its roots with street-racing featuring more prominently and the bromance between Vin Diesel’s Dom and Paul Walker’s Brian being reignited. Add to that, the delicious Gal Gadot and what more could you ask for? The action is high-paced and almost unrelenting. This film also features one of the best plots of the entire franchise – I realise that isn’t saying much but any plot in these movies needs to be appreciated.

This film is entertaining and it might not make you want to change the world but it will make you grip the steering wheel of your modest, sensible family sedan more tightly and rev the engine just a little bit harder on your way to buy diapers. In a world where sensibility and logic will kill most of your dreams, don’t we need a ridiculous and FUN action movie to help us live vicariously? I say we do!

Now this post’s title promised a recap and a recap you shall have. Here’s all the fun that was had on day 5:

Dancin’ Dan on Film berates a film for not living up to its title and praises a sci-fi thriller which got more flack than it should have.

Rambling Film doesn’t mince words as she tears apart one of Pixar’s best and does a great job standing up for a little known animation.

My co-host, Dell On Movies sinks his teeth in and tears a film apart for being pretentious and praises another for just being ‘cool’.

The blogathon is spinning down to an end but there is still time for you to add your two cents. Click here to find out how.