Review by Tim-O
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster
Directed by Christian Alvart
In my weekly search for new releases on Netflix, I ran across a film I had not yet heard of. The movie is called “Pandorum” and stars Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. I was a little surprised that I had never heard of the film considering the talent involved. I don’t research buzz movies in production, nor do I get excited and sit and feverishly wait for the next “big thing” to hit theaters. I don’t even go to theaters. However, I’m usually at least aware of the notable sci-fi thrillers that get released. Having recently watched the poorly executed Dennis Quaid suspense vehicle “The Horseman”, I figured this to be the next stop on the actor’s slumping career and Ben Foster must have come along on the ride for a paycheck. After reading the synopsis, I also feared “Pandorum” was going to be simply a “Cube”/”Saw” hybrid rip-off. I was wrong.
Two crewman (Quaid, Foster) aboard a mammoth spaceship awake from deep-space hyper-sleep chambers with no memory of where they are or what their mission is. As the two search for clues, they struggle to regain their memory and battle possible symptoms of Pandorum (a paranoid psychosis brought on by the combination of hyper-sleep and deep space travel). It is discovered that the ship’s reactor is damaged and will soon shut down. If that happens, all the power will go dead and anything alive on the ship will go with it. Quaid and Foster must find a way to get to the reactor and repair it in time or else all is lost. Along the way, they discover they are not alone on the ship. There seems to be other humans and even flesh eating monsters roaming the ship. Who are the people and who or what are the monsters aboard the ship? Where and what happened to the other passengers/crew? What is the ship’s mission and destination? The rest of the movie is spent answering these questions between scenes of the humans Kung Fu fighting, or running from monsters on their way to the ship’s reactor.
“Pandorum” is a movie with top level production values, acting, and FX. The script is interesting but has a few holes and jumps around a bit. I never really got lost or confused, though. There’s a twist you’ll probably see coming a mile away and another one you, won’t. Don’t worry though, without giving too much away, this isn’t one of those stupid “everything is happening in the main character’s head and nothing is real” twist-end movies. (It has that feel leading up to it, though.) The fight scenes are well staged and the monsters look pretty good, albeit a little reminiscent of “The Descent”. Actually, the best way to simply describe this movie is a cross between “Alien”/”Aliens”, “Event Horizon” and “The Descent”. If you liked those movies, you’ll probably enjoy this one.
I actually really liked “Pandorum”. It had a nice mix of mystery, sci-fi, action and horror. In these days of countless remakes, “cheat” endings, and torture-porn movies, it felt a little refreshing to see a popcorn movie that is eye-candy AND an interesting story. I’m not saying it’s going on anyone’s list of favorite movies, but it left me feeling satisfied and entertained. What more can you ask of a movie? 8/10