Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010

"Pandorum"

Bonus for you - we have a space paranoia double feature for you this week. "Pandorum" is gritty and dark and plays with the idea of space psychosis as much as it does what-goes-bump-on-the-spaceship. Comparisons of 1997's thriller "Event Horizon" are not without merit. In both films, battles happen as much in the mind as they do on the decks of a spooky spaceship. The story is initially diluted. Two astronauts wake up from a cryogenic sleep with no recognition of who they are or what they are doing in this big dark spaceship. Their memories come back to them in pieces as some malignant beings are closing in on them. Ben Foster takes on the lead role and really shines, his outstanding abilities have been seen in limited parts in the past, as the truly evil sidekick in "3:10 to Yuma," as the really strange stranger in "30 Days of Night," and as the disturbed brother in "Birds of America." Foster is on his way to playing bigger and broader parts and this role allows him to be the good guy without losing his edge. Dennis Quaid turns in another performance of Dennis Quaid playing Dennis Quaid but he isn't too much of a distraction to the overall plot and actually gets through the whole movie without having to fall back on his signature smirk/smiles. Give this one a chance if you're a fan of sci-fi movies that depict the future as a bleak, vicious, dirty wasteland instead of a stainless steel society filled with shiny happy people.