Red Planet (2000)

Favorite Lines from the Movie:

"I dated a girl named Faith once. She cheated on me with a girl named Chastity."

Bowman: "This is not good."
Computer: "No, it's not."

Reviews

Dogburt

The movie "Red Planet" is the latest endeavor into outer space film making, and it holds up fairly well to its predecessors, though in total is not what I'd call spectacular. You've got your crew, you've got your mission, you've got stuff that goes wrong and everybody dies, you've got the protagonists who overcome improbable odds to escape from the planet, etc. Pretty generic, really. So given that premise, you would think that this scenario would give way to lots of character development.

So what do they give us? That's right, stereotypical sci-fi characters. Strong but vulnerable female? Check. Cocky high ranking officer who bites it? Check. Thoughtful and sacrificial leader? Check. Humble protagonist who actually knows more than he lets on? Check. And now, since the afterbirth that was "Supernova," we've got the sexually frustrated central computer and a recycling of the affectionate term "Sweetie" that applies to a non-living thing.

So it's boring, right? Well, no, it's actually interesting in some parts. I think the biggest thing that this movie had going for it was the underlying story. The premise was thoughtful and had some interesting twists, even though the underpinnings were old- Earth is about to become extinct and mankind has to find refuge. So these guys systematically try to populate Mars. Ok, why not? So they send a bunch of stuff there and try to grow green algae, which will produce oxygen so they can breathe. Ok, cool. Obviously everything goes wrong both in space and on the planet, and this does hold some drama. Effects were not overdone but served purpose, the robot AMEE was a pleasant surprise in ingenuity and actually having relevance, and of course there was Carrie-Ann Moss' tank top. Throw in the sniffing Iceman Doc Holiday, and you've got an interesting film.

I think that sci-fi as a genre is far removed from where it once was, and therefore I really don't know what a good sci-fi film is anymore. I just went into the movie with no expectations and all I can say is that "Red Planet" doesn't suck and was a pleasant surprise. The best compliment I can give is that it kept me interested the whole time (not that this isn't difficult to do). On the whole, not a bad way to spend an afternoon if nothing better is playing at your local movie theater. And it was better than "Mission to Mars."

Shankster

I really don't know what to say about this one. There were a few brief moments where I felt myself start to enjoy this movie BUT those moments were quickly replaced by boredom because it was the same old same old OR complete puzzlement. The more I think about this movie the more I feel like the only redeeming qualities were the scenes of Carrie-Anne Moss, not just the shower scene (because that was disappointing) but the scenes of her in tank tops, etc. She is one hot actress.

Enough about Ms. Moss, the question is not how hot she is but rather how I felt about the rest of the movie. Well let's sum it up this way, I thoroughly enjoyed some of the trailers before the movie began and the movie wasn't as bad as Supernova. Other then that it was weak across the board. It was weak in trying to touch on the higher issues (God vs. science, the poisoning of Earth, the instincts of man, etc.) giving only some hinted at dialog rather then plot time. The character development was poor so you felt nothing for them as they died. The obstacles that the crew faced in trying to stay alive were very implausible allowing you to pick it apart easily. The more and more I think about this movie the more flawed and disjointed it seems. I could probably right pages about it's problems, so...

It would be best if I ended here with a simple, see the movie if you like sci-fi but be prepared to be disappointed.

Batman

Every year it seems we get two big budget action movies based on very similar themes. Last year we had Fight Club and American Beauty which took differing approaches on the idea that materialistic possesions do not a happy life make. The year before that it was really big things smashing into the Earth with Armageddon's asteroid and Deep Impact's comet. This year it's Mars.

NASA sounded off with what could only be considered an ominous bit of foreshadowing when the Mars Polar Lander crash landed in December 1999. Then in March 2000 we got Brian DePalma's Mission to Mars, which spent the next month being bitchslapped by critics and movie goers alike, mostly for its goofy heartwarming lame alien ending. Finally in November 2000 we get Red Planet. Luckily the final Mars note in this twelve month period isn't a down one.

That's not to say that I think this movie is brilliant. Far from it. In fact the more I think about it the dumber it seems. What we do have however is a good looking movie that has some great moments and a near total lack of character development. The bulk of the character development comes in a voice over in the first few minutes of the movie. It lays out the typical sci-fi characters along with the basic plot line. This way the rest of the movie doesn't have to bother with these minor annoyances.

There is some cool stuff here though. The movie looks great. The landscapes and special effects are well done and give a real sense of style to the movie. A large portion of the movie involves part of the crew trying to survive on the surface of Mars. This to me was the best part of the movie. It really focuses on what many people seem to forget, that space exploration is difficult and extremely dangerous. Remember how the movie Apollo 13 really focused on the desperate attempts to bring home a crippled space capsule? This has a similar feel, though nowhere near as intense.

The robot AMEE was easily the movie's best effect. This is the kind of thing that computer animation excells at. The robot is extremely fluid, fast and dangerous. It moves like nothing you've ever seen and that alone makes it intriguing. I would have liked to see a bit more of the "robot fu" if you know what I mean.

The actors are mostly not worth mentioning but not through any fault of their own. We never really get to know any of them. Two of them are out of the picture so fast you'll miss them if you blink. Val Kilmer is hard to accept because he's billed as the star but the movie structure tries to make you think he isn't. So when he becomes the central figure there is no real impact. We already thought he was the central figure. Finally there is Carrie-Anne Moss who mostly gets to look great in a variety of outfits like a shower, a towel, a tank top and a form fitting space suit.

It all adds up to some mostly empty entertainment. A few good things to look at, a few good ideas and a whole lot of nothing to glue it all together.