Snow Steam Iron
December 21, 2018 § 2 Comments
Oh good, I am back to the “wonderful” works of Zack Snyder but the news is that it’s not Justice League. I’ll get to that one shortly I’m doing this review but for now, let’s get to his short film venture with Snow Steam Iron. Released the same year as Justice League but with very little news knowledge, Snow Steam Iron is filmed using an iPhone and is released first social media app known as Vero. It stars Samantha Jo who’s a prominent stunt double but she’s also known as Car-Vex in Man of Steel and Kitana in Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
Also, this might be an easy review to do since this short film is only four minutes so I can quickly get to the plot. It’s about Lin Woo (Samantha Jo) who fights for her survival by beating those that are set to kill her in the alleyway. And that is basically the whole movie itself… Oh there’s flashbacks on how she came to be like her past as a sex worker of sorts with one of the ladies being obsessed with a beheaded guy but really, it’s a four-minute short about a girl kicking ass and that is the whole movie in a nutshell.
This might seem like a waste of space for a review but in all honesty, this a thing that exists for no reason except it’s Zack trying out on new technology. Presumably of course but other than that, this might easily be a proof of concept idea that’s not going anywhere or is meant to be a music video but it felt like nobody said yes to adding their song for this. The plot is thin and almost non-existent and the flashback is just a collage of random images. The only good thing I can say that it’s visually stunning but that is obvious due to Zack being known in various trailers as a “visionary director” so it’s like he is using his ego big time for this.
There’s better short films than this whether it’s the works of David Lynch or one that Wes Anderson did that stars Jason Schwartzman as a formula one driver but this, this to me is the worst Zack Snyder movie in my personal opinion. That is saying something since it’s just four minutes of a protagonist surviving a world of hate and there should be further explanation for this. Oh, she was a sex worker type but she found out the dangers so she’s in trouble. Why? What’s the fucking point? This movie is so bad that at least Sucker Punch has a constant storytelling point. A bad one but it did have a story. I can’t recommend it even if it’s on YouTube so that’s one from Zack Snyder retrospective that I honestly regret doing. And you know what? At least the next one is more something than this so until then.
The Ludovico Technique 
You are such a crappy reviewer. Claiming there’s no plot, calling it a vanity project. Trying to simplify the story and make it somehow a bad thing.
Yes, Lin Woo worked as a prostitute and a cop took advantage of her. That’s the bare bones of the plot. But it’s more than that. She was forced into this life because of unfortunate circumstances. There was a war going on at the time, one that she may have been a part of.
It’s clear that she has incredible skills, as evidenced by her disposing of her would-be executioners. She is a fighter. Don’t have to read too much into the film to get that.
She didn’t just “find out the dangers”, buddy. She got framed for murder. She rebelled against the system and it didn’t end well. What I can tell is that she escaped the war, but had to enter a prostitution club. She got abused and fought back against her abuser. She was about to be killed and took out her killers. She was always trying to escape. And if her look at the end is anything to go by, she will never stop fighting to be free.
View at Medium.com
Hey, apologies for a long delay. I lost my password to my site years ago (which is dead now but I recently found the password so may plan to write my reason I’m not on this site anymore soon enough) and I do read what you wrote. I didn’t really call it a vanity project per se but more of a test product. And yeah, my review does seem rushed but I was in a mindset at the time and was having a bit burnout before I quit then.
I do thank you for explaining the plot proper and also thank you for calling me a crappy reviewer. I take that as a compliment since my reviews is not high class and I did sort-of quit since then (I’m now writing reviews on letterboxd instead and it’s more proper and not in my usual humorous style. Funnily enough, I didn’t review anything by Snyder there or planned to) and everybody’s a critic to each our own. But anyway, I do thank you for writing this and you made my day so cheers for that.