Okay, so I said that I wished there were more fairy tale movies, because they're always pretty and uncomplicated and fun to watch. But what I really wish for is more horror movies in space. But, you know, better than Jason X.
The thing that makes Pandorum awesome, and other movies like it (Event Horizon, Sunshine) is the element of hopelessness. The crew is trapped on their ship, who knows how far from where they started, and no one is coming to rescue them. One of them compares the ship to a floating coffin, a metaphor that is eerily accurate. There are a whole lot of monsters on board with them, and it's quickly established how the choice between fight or flight for the crew isn't a choice at all.
The first half is much more sci-fi/thriller, with Ben Foster crawling around in vents, running around dark hallways with only a flashlight, and having a few very close encounters with the creatures. The movie takes a bit of a stumble when it hits the second half and focuses more on the action, but that's okay. The rest is fucking cool.
Of course, there's also mention of space crazy, which adds more creepiness. Nothing I saw makes me want to go into space any less though.
I loved that movie.
ReplyDeleteThey did a good job with giving you the sort of vertigo-inducing concept of the scale of the ship. In my opinion, the high point of the movie is actually when the cook tells them the mythologized version of how things came to be that way.
Ben Foster is A++++ WOULD WATCH AGAIN.
-Matt Wallace