Looks like we won’t be seeing Oprah Winfrey in a comic-book related film after all. At least not in “Suicide Squad.”
Latino Review broke the news late Tuesday evening that Viola Davis, currently starring in the ABC television show “How to Get Away With Murder,” will play the role of Prison Warden Amanda Waller in the new “Suicide Squad” film. The role was considered down to Davis and two other actresses: Oprah Winfrey and Octavia Spencer.
She’s join Jared Leto as the Joker, Will Smith as Headshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Tom Hardy as Rick Flag, Jai Courtney as Boomerang and Carla Delevinge as Enchantress. Latino Review describes Waller as “a former congressional aide and government agent often placed in charge of the Suicide Squad, a semi-secret government-run group of former supervillains working in return for amnesty.”
Latino Review reports the only sticking point would be trying to figure out how to work the film into her already busy television schedule.
“The story of a grandfather who is suddenly left to care for his beloved granddaughter. When the little girl’s paternal grandmother seeks custody, a legal battle ensues that forces the families to confront their true feelings on race, forgiveness and understanding.”
Curtis (Chris Evans) joins the others in a fight to stay alive on a train set apart by a class system. (Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company)
If one finds almost any information about “Snowpiercer,” it is all positive. The film has become a new gold standard for Sci-Fi films.
In some markets the ticket sales are keeping in pace with the latest “Transformers.” As far as the quality of story, “Snowpiercer” certainly outruns the giant robots feuding.
“Snowpiercer” tells a simple story. Almost all of the human population is dead because of a man-made second ice age. Those who remain now live a fast-moving train that has been the salvation for mankind for 18 years.
Aboard this train are classes of people. The poorest ones live in the back end of the train, where they are given black nutrition bars once a day and are punished severely if they protest their lot in life. The climate outside may be below freezing but the climate among the poor is starting to boil.
A great deal of the second half of the film reveals the lifestyles of the more wealthy residents who populate the part of the train nearer to the engine. The discovery of each new car will not be revealed here. The journey through those cars should be experienced on screen.
In the midst of all the social commentary that defines this tale, there is a captivating mystery. Early on, two small boys are taken from the train car of the poorest residents.The mystery is where are the boys and why were they taken. The answer is just one of the twists and turns that makes this story more intriguing.
I view “Snowpiercer” as a fable. In many ways it has a lot in common with the very successful “Hunger Games” series. “Snowpiercer” will not be as successful as “Games.”It is an R-rated film for violence. It also does not set up things for a sequel. But it shares many of the ideas of “Games,” especially in the depictions of the haves and have-nots.
I liked much of the film. There is not a moment or scene that is not interesting in its own way. The train, is a fascinating place. A viewer of the film is as surprised as the characters at what is through the next door and into the next cabin.
Snowpiercer looks great with fine performances and skilled work by the filmmakers.Chris Evans (“Captain America”) plays the main role, Curtis, who is the leader of the poor. Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer and Jamie Bell are also prominent players. All the actors give remarkable performances. The art direction, set design, cinematography, visual effects and choreography of action sequences all contribute to the visual tapestry that clarifies this story.
There are many gaps in the story that make it hard for me to grasp the film as a serious drama. I left the film thinking of questions that I really should not raise if I was completely caught up in this struggle for survival. Once I embraced it as a fable, a story with a moral, I became much more comfortable when certain parts of the film were not adequately explained.
As a fable, the moral is simple. Human beings, at least in most parts of the world, have expectations. The downtrodden can be suppressed, but only for a while. As a nation and a global community we constantly ask ourselves, how much is too much or too little to provide for the least fortunate?
In “Snowpiercer” too little is a black block of nutrition (made from a horrid source) and the threat that those nearer to the front of the train may change the rules at any moment.As politicians vote often for less and less assistance or more and more discriminating rules, should we worry about the back of the train? Or is that just a fable?
“Snowpiercer” is not a perfect film, but it is a good ride and a thoughtful fable no matter what your politics might be.
Cinema Corner 