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QUICK TAKE:
Sci-fi/Horror: After coming out of years of hyper-sleep, two crewmembers of a futuristic spaceship ark must contend not only with a disparate group of other survivors, but also bands of mutant hunters that want to kill and eat all of them.
PLOT:
In the year 2174, and with Earth's resources being depleted, the spaceship Elysium was sent to colonize the planet Tanis. But something has apparently gone wrong, for when Corporal Bower (BEN FOSTER) and then Lieutenant Payton (DENNIS QUAID) awaken from their hyper-sleep, many years have passed and they seem to be the only two people left on the ship.
Since the ship's power reactor is in flux and not getting any better, the two can't get the doors open to find out what's occurred, a frustrating element that's only exacerbated by the fact that both are suffering from lingering bouts of hyper-sleep induced amnesia.
Nonetheless, Payton has Bower climb up through a vent shaft to see if he can find his way back to the other side of the door so that they can get out and figure out what's happened. But Bower discovers something that only worsens their predicament -- some sort of humanoid mutant hunters that are extraordinarily fast and strong and have apparently been feeding on other humans onboard.
Yet, there are survivors, such as genetics team member Nadia (ANTJE TRAUE) and agriculture worker Manh (CUNG LEE) who've managed to avoid the hunters, much like the crazed Leland (EDDIE ROUSE) who's gone to extreme measures to keep himself fed. He's not the only mentally unstable human around, however, as Payton must contend with the arrival of Corporal Gallo (CAM GIGANDET), who appears to be suffering from pandorum, an increasingly unstable state of mental confusion.
As he deals with him back at the original location, Payton tries to guide Bower and the others to the ship's reactor to restart it before it's too late, all while hoping to avoid the mutant hunters that are large in number and hearty in appetite.
OUR TAKE: 2 out of 10
Our reviewing policy for films that aren't shown in advance to critics (or are done so late the night before they open) is that we'll only provide a paragraph or two about the film's artistic merits or, more accurately, lack thereof. After all, life is too short to spend any more effort than that on a movie that even the releasing studio knows isn't any good (which is why they hid it from reviewers before its release).
Ever since James Cameron upped the ante on Ridley Scott's original cat and mouse sci-fi thriller, "Alien," many filmmakers have tried to copy the formula of monsters hunting down humans in dark, tight and claustrophobic environs. The results have varied, with some being okay (although never matching the brilliance of "Aliens") but most coming off as cheap and often laughable imitators.
"Pandorum" clearly falls into the latter category, a derivative thriller that starts off okay (two crew members waking up on a ship with amnesia clouding their knowledge and memories of who they are and what they're doing), but quickly descends into predictable and repetitive scares.
Throw in some of the worst editing you might see all year (apparently to cover up the low budget monster and action effects), some horrendous dialogue and the ubiquitous feeling that you've seen all of this before, and you'll likely be rooting for the monsters to succeed so that the film will end sooner than later.
Nowhere as fun or thrilling as the somewhat similar "Descent," as creepy as the psychosis in space "Event Horizon" and clearly not remotely in the same cinematic ballpark as Cameron's venerable film, "Pandorum" rates as just a 2 out of 10.
Reviewed September 24, 2009 / Posted September 25, 2009
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