Pandemonium in Pandorum

ORCS. In friggin' SPACE.

Pandorum

starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Can Gigandet, Antje Traue, Norman Reedus

directed by Christian Alvart

So when I first saw the poster for this movie, I was like, “What the hell is a Pandorum?” Then, when I first saw the trailer, I was like, “Dude, I love Ben Foster, but what the hell is this movie even about? And again, what the hell is a Pandorum?” Parts of me think that Hollywood sometimes just names a movie something weird to peek interest in the audience; however, to me, its just irritating. I want a good synopsis of what I’m paying to see, not some vague poster or vague trailer with something crazy like Pandorum scrawled across the top. All rants aside, however, I was pleasantly suprised by this nice little cult-ish sci fi film.

It is the twenty second century. The Earth is overpopulated and resources are scarce. However, scientists have finally discovered a planet 135 years away that is almost exactly like our planet; they call it Tanis. The starship Elysium takes a crew along with sixteen thousand people to colonize Tanis. However, because of the long trip, the passengers are put into a deep, coma-like, space travel sleep. One day, Bower (Foster) wakes up from his slumber early. Too early; the ship’s power reactor is fluctuating dangerously, leaving most of the ship in the dark. And the other crew members aren’t answering comm calls. His memory is foggy; all he remembers is that he is a part of the Elysium’s crew and that he is the technical officer. Eventually, his superior officer Payton (Quaid) also awakes, and the begin to explore the ship to find answers. Instead of finding the passengers, however, they find something much more menacing. Cannibalistic, deformed predators now roam the ship. And the plot only thickens from there; how long exactly has the crew been sleeping and where exactly are they?

From the opening scenes, Pandorum had my full attention and imagination. This is the first film that I can actually call gripping since, well, Star Trek. The mood of the film is dark, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. You worry about every corner Bower must go around, you jump at every little growl you hear in the background. The director made every effort to keep the audience entralled, and he did his job extremely well. This is a good mixture of sci fi awesomeness and horror surprises.

Ben Foster was excellent, as always. I personally think he is one of the most underrated actors of our time. Doubt me? Look up his performances in both Alpha Dog and the remake of 3:10 to Yuma. He takes character immersion seriously, and it shows through on the screen. Dennis Quaid is way over the top, as normal. I can’t remember the last time I saw him act well in something, but his performance didn’t take anything away from the film. All supporting cast did thier job well. Plus, the hunters are friggin’ awesome! Just imagine Orcs in space, and you’ll get the idea. Fast, super strong, and very hungry. Kudos to the special effects and make up guys of the crew.

The only draw back is a few missteps in plot. I was totally on board with where the movie was headed until the very end. The term Pandorum is in reference to a isolation madness some people get from being is space for too long alone. They completely lose it, and tend to kill all the crew members around them. The plot tries to make a big play in the end with this theory, but I think it was just poorly executed. It felt like the writers had two ideas going; 1.) Deep space anarchy featuring the space orcs and 2.) Space sickness on the way to colonizing another planet. They tried to make the two ideas work together, and I believe they only half succeeded in the endeavour.

So, yes, definitely go see the film. It was cool as hell, and I agree with Dr. Rabbitfoot when he says that it will probably eventually become a sci fi/horror cult classic. If it’ll ever achieve higher recognition, who knows, but I doubt it. Worth the price of a ticket though. And I bet it’ll look awesome on Blu-Ray, too. So, yeah, ORCS IN SPACE!!!!!