When the first trailer for “Pandorum” came out, I couldn’t help but think it was one of the many “Event Horizon” wanna-bes that tried to blend horror with Sci-Fi with little budget. It was both its geatest flaw and its greatest triumph from a marketing point of view, because while it sold the movie as horror Sci-Fi with cheap production values and ideas and visual styles stolen from many other movies (aside from “Horizon”, “Dark City”, “Dead Space”), it ended up being much much more than that, with the horror elements just adding to the fun factor of what is otherwise a smart and very complex plot centered movie.
The main reason why I liked “Pandorum” so much is because it surprised me in a sense that it marketed itself as something that had been done a thousand times before and ended up being something else entirely.
The overall development of the plot, the reason for the monsters to be in the ship, the conclusion and more importantly the CLIMAX are astonishingly satisfactory. Screenwriter Travis Milloy has come close to what I consider a holy grail among futuristic horror movies, which is finding a conclusion that doesn’t rely on being overly dramatic by thinking it is cool to kill everyone, but doesn’t go the opposite way trying to please all the kids in the audience. What’s even cooler is that by saying this I am not spoiling anything from the movie.
Christian Alvart directs the movie with enough skill to make bigger flaws unnoticeable, and the cast drives it convincingly. Ben Foster gives a powerful performance, which is duly deserved by the fact that his character Bower (Bauer is Builder in German) is the one that goes through the biggest development journey, from being lost and confused to having the fate of all in his hands. The other characters are interesting as well, but Bower is a winner because, while others play unique roles throughout the movie (with Dennis Quaid’s Payton being really stable, noticeable if you pay attention or watch the movie a second time), Bower transitions through many roles throughout the story until finding his definitive one shortly before the ending. It’s a really well-written character from a screenwriting point of view.
The verdict? “Pandorum” is anything but new in the visual department, but the smartly developed plot and strong acting from the entire cast make it an absolute winner for those intrigued by just what the hell is going on in the ship Elysium. Amazingly, the screenwriter managed to tie up all loose ends and if you doubt the consistency of the plot, it is definitely worth a second viewing.
Dont miss this one.
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