Pandorum (2009)

Best movie of this year hands down!

The Worst Film Ever

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This movie isn't perfect, but it deserves a hell of a lot higher score than these bone-head critics gave it. Most movies these days are incredibly predictable and horror director's idea of scary is little girls and jump scares. This movie had me on the edge of my seat for nearly the entire time with a few short low points to give you a chance to catch your breathe. Most of what happened I completely didn't see coming, ye that's right, I had to actually watch the movie to know what going to happen instead of being able to see every twist coming from a mile away like every modern movie I've seen in the last 5 years. The plot was pieced together nicely throughout the film, and all the twists were interesting and fun to watch. They weren't unpredictable because they were nonsensical, but because the movie doesn't act like usual Hollywood and take the most obvious direction because it's the safe way to make it.

The film is a cross between 'Resident Evil' and 'Alien'. This one is just very dark - and I mean this literally. At times it is so dark that one can hardly see what's happening. There's obviously supposed to be a big twist ending here, but it is not entirely clear what it is.

I watched this time-shifted on TV - not in HD - and concede that I may not have been seeing it at its best. I like scifi movies and TV but would not say I am an addict, nor an expert. I would liken this production to a cross between small-screen miniseries "Ascension" (mainly in its basic idea of a ship designed to colonise a new Earth) and the Alien franchise (in its atmosphere and setting). There are certain scenes familiar from the likes of "Sphere" and other such and in some ways there are even parallels with "The Wizard of Oz"! For me Ben Foster is very strong in the lead role and Dennis Quaid also convinces. It is just as well because most of the other players who matter have peremptory dialogue and the bulk of the other "lifeforms" who inhabit the ship are interchangeable and genuinely nasty zombie-like apparitions with only one thing on their agenda. For too long, the movie drags us through somewhat repetitious encounters between our hero and the many hazards he encounters, but the basic story is clever and intriguing, with several twists that eluded me, not least at the end. Given that the budget will have been a fraction of that thrown at the Alien franchise, the sets, lighting and special effects are impressive and for the most part look real. There is also a solid futuristic score - crucial in movies like this. In the end, we have here a very decent effort at generating a cult picture that might yet be remade into a scifi masterpiece. Well worth your time, if you don't easily get queasy (or do and enjoy it)!

I feel like I'm undervaluing the film by only giving it a 7. Granted, the story-telling is patchy in places and the horror part seems like it would've been better cut out, but the whole thing is fairly enjoyable. It could've done with a bigger budget, wider scope and focus on character instead of physical mutations. Pandorum is a fairly good horror movie, but you can certainly find better horrors out there. What makes it better is a well-designed core plot and good/great execution with solid acting. Certainly worth the 1.5 hours.