Pandorum, True Sci-Fi

Ok, I know I’ve only posted sci-fi reviews in the past couple of months (Children and District 9), but maybe that’s because the genre has had a resurgence of late. The movie I wish to discuss is Pandorum. One of the better ways to describe this movie is to contrast it to Sunshine, a comparison actually provided by my cousin Luke. Sunshine was a brilliant and literally bright movie that used its plot and setting in wonderful ways. So with Pandorum, darkness seemed to be a tool that the film makers used till the very end.

Some might mistakenly place this movie into the sci-fi/horror genre, it certainly had the scary creatures and enough blood, but those people would be doing a disservice to Pandorum. This movie takes place on a ship traveling with the most precious cargo, humans. I’m not going to give away too much of the plot, because throughout the movie it was built in such a way that each new piece isn’t new just for the characters, but for you as well. There’s always a little bit of mystery around everything you learn.

With that said, you meet your first two characters fairly quickly, Corporal Bower played by Ben Foster, and Denis Quad cast as Lieutenant Payton. Both of these actors do a phenomenal job with their characters and I would say they made this movie, not only because the cast is incredibly small, but because this movie (while about some very large issues) is really about these two guys, stuck on an abandoned space ship.

The supporting cast was good, but weak in the fact that I walked out of the movie, only knowing the names of the two main characters, leaving the supporting cast (in my mind) as almost pointless in their existence. But that is a flaw that only appears lightly on the radar in relation to the wonderful story telling and heart felt connection to this fictitious world we watch on the silver screen. There were moments of flashback by Bower that I for one emotionally connected to, and one in particular that I wish to talk about…

[Partial SPOILER ALERT]
So the reason this ship, the Elysseum, is transporting human cargo, is because it is on a mission to colonize a distant planet, Tanis.  This planet is the last hope for the survival of humanity, and the 60,000 cryogenically frozen humans on board are “all that’s left.”  During one flashback, Bower recalls when, as a small boy, the first probe to land on Tanis sent back images.  With his parents in the background, it showed him in front of the giant display as the news broadcast live (yet delayed due to distance) video of the probes landing.  It showed the tense few moments as the probe scanned for any form of life on Tanis, and then confirmation, as it picks up one form of plant life after another.  This is obviously one of the most historical moments imaginable, not only finding a planet much like earth, but then finding complex life existing.  If you can’t emotionally connect with such a huge event, then you may want to rethink our place in the universe.

The most unfortunate aspect about this movie (as it was with Sunshine) is that it will go mostly unnoticed by the majority of film watchers, but its redemption from such a meager release has come almost instantly. It will go down as a modern throw-back to some of the great sci-fi masters and as Luke said, it will probably inspire future film makers with its true taste of sci-fi.  I agree, for in that movie I found inspiration that I thought long dead, the desire to tell stories through film and novel (yes, that used to be my life long dream believe it or not).

After every thing’s said and done, this is easily a favorite movie of mine.  I would recommend this movie to anyone who is not light of heart and stomach and say that it shall go down in the annels of history along with the classics such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Alien, Blade Runner etc.