Thursday 10 March 2011

Pandoranum

Would be low rated studio pic, this is instead an impressively constructed movie that's slightly let down by the plot.

It starts with an amnesiac premise, two people wake up, can't remember anything, but are on a ship in space where Something Has Gone Wrong(tm). As events unfold they find out that there are strange creatures on the ship, and the obvious monsters on the ship might be nothing compared to the monsters in their heads...

There is a distinct psychological thriller aspect to it, as well as being a "voyage through the ship avoiding monsters" plot. However, some of the revelations come a little oddly and not entirely clearly. And yet, conversely, some of those revelations are very traditional. As I said, the plot doesn't quite match up to the rest of the movie.

Because one of the best things about the movie is the sets. There are a lot of them, they are well built, and give a great impression of the large chambers inside the ship. (If they are, in fact, only small sets, then they are very well dressed, re-used, and shot.) There is dim lighting, as is standard in this style of movie, and it works well to add to the atmosphere of unknown danger.

Ben Foster gives a lot as the lead actor for the character Bower, but cannot compete to any scene starring Dennis Quaid as Payton. Antje Traue kicks ass well, as does Chun Le. Andre Hennicke as the lead alien... and I'll point out here the alien make-ups are very well done, distorting the face of the actor and giving them an extreme weirdness... big thumbs up to the make-up department. (See? Watching Face Off is helping!)

There are wanted to be another two movies, although it's not likely given the current numbers. So if you want to see a good-looking movie that's going to disappear into the unknown, check this one out while you can.

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