'In space no one can hear you scream' intoned the Alien tagline way back in 1979, like some kind of spaceman rapist with Bad Ideas. Pandorum is more a case of 'In spaceship, savage spear-wielding freaks can hear you scream. So don't.'
Pandorum is a solid sci-fi with a tight 108 minute runtime, starting with a first-half rehash of clueless protagonists realising that they are not on holiday in Hawaii and wait, what was that sou -- 'OH SH** WHAT THE F***, SHOOT THE LITTLE B******S!'. The well-worn premise is invigorated by assured performances from Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster as LT. Payton and Corporal Bower respectively, who are in turn helped by an unobtrusive script that is several light years ahead of Michael Bay back on Earth, with his borderline mentally-retarded fireball obsession.
'Alien' marks an early influence in the genesis of Pandorum, and Ripley's ghost hovers over the film as little space engineers and scientists scuttle through the dim corridors and engine guts of the mysterious spaceship Elysium. The film can be read as a successful synthesis of its influences, from the Cube start-point of confused protagonists waking up in a strange environment to the Event Horizon island madness that threatens to derail Bower and Co.'s attempts to get Elysium up and running in the final third.
And this huge spaceship, despite drifting in space, drives the plot forward at several points. Elysium is a citadel of hibernating people, launched from a predictably effed-up Earth with the sole intention of reaching Earth II (Tanis) so that the human race can continue to do the dirty and smoke post-coital cigs on the other side of the galaxy.
As with the more recent, and inferior, Predators film which follows a similar sci-fi riff with similar all-round competence, the plot struggles to maintain momentum towards its conclusion. Plot points feel forced towards resolution within the small time-frame and, though twists are reliably well-handled by director Christian Alvart and crew, the actual twists are pretty well-established film devices.
Pandorum is a strong sci-fi horror that goes some way to redressing the decade-long lobotomy that has been the Modern Blockbuster. Unfortunately the film bombed upon release back in 2009, cutting short talks of a trilogy.
In its skillful direction, strong acting and intriguing CGI savages however, Pandorum as a stand-alone film is an example of what can be achieved with studio productions. If only other people would kindly watch this rather than encouraging the recent rashes of big, friendly robots and square-jawed superheroes.
Pandorum is a solid sci-fi with a tight 108 minute runtime, starting with a first-half rehash of clueless protagonists realising that they are not on holiday in Hawaii and wait, what was that sou -- 'OH SH** WHAT THE F***, SHOOT THE LITTLE B******S!'. The well-worn premise is invigorated by assured performances from Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster as LT. Payton and Corporal Bower respectively, who are in turn helped by an unobtrusive script that is several light years ahead of Michael Bay back on Earth, with his borderline mentally-retarded fireball obsession.
'Alien' marks an early influence in the genesis of Pandorum, and Ripley's ghost hovers over the film as little space engineers and scientists scuttle through the dim corridors and engine guts of the mysterious spaceship Elysium. The film can be read as a successful synthesis of its influences, from the Cube start-point of confused protagonists waking up in a strange environment to the Event Horizon island madness that threatens to derail Bower and Co.'s attempts to get Elysium up and running in the final third.
And this huge spaceship, despite drifting in space, drives the plot forward at several points. Elysium is a citadel of hibernating people, launched from a predictably effed-up Earth with the sole intention of reaching Earth II (Tanis) so that the human race can continue to do the dirty and smoke post-coital cigs on the other side of the galaxy.
As with the more recent, and inferior, Predators film which follows a similar sci-fi riff with similar all-round competence, the plot struggles to maintain momentum towards its conclusion. Plot points feel forced towards resolution within the small time-frame and, though twists are reliably well-handled by director Christian Alvart and crew, the actual twists are pretty well-established film devices.
Pandorum is a strong sci-fi horror that goes some way to redressing the decade-long lobotomy that has been the Modern Blockbuster. Unfortunately the film bombed upon release back in 2009, cutting short talks of a trilogy.
In its skillful direction, strong acting and intriguing CGI savages however, Pandorum as a stand-alone film is an example of what can be achieved with studio productions. If only other people would kindly watch this rather than encouraging the recent rashes of big, friendly robots and square-jawed superheroes.