I don't know what I'm more flabbergasted by: that a director of some decent movies can create such a terrible, cheesy, and downright simple minded movie and get it released; or that some people actually consider this to be an intelligent, emotional, and interesting movie.
First of all, lets get one thing out of the way: this movie is dumb. This is about as intellectual and profound as 'Jingle All The Way'. The ideas and plot-line are something that might be expected from a 9 year old and are so full of overdone clichés and hammy faux profundity it's laughable.
This might be forgivable if it was all delivered in a fun and exciting way, but it isn't. It's really quite amazing that de Palma has managed to make something inherently exciting and interesting (travelling to Mars, discovering something world changing) seem so run-of-the-mill and uninteresting. I put this down to the script and acting, all of which is delivered with all the gusto you might expect in a conversation about taking the bins out. It's as if the production company came up with the basic premise and plot and then ran it through a computer quickly to 'populate' the film with characters and interactions. This is all the more remarkable considering that these are actors of apparently high standards (especially Cheadle). There is no emotion or sense of urgency/fear/stress/excitement/happiness/relief/loss/awe or in fact anything. The script is so basic it's incredible. Simple, monosyllabic sentences are the order of the day, usually just adding noise to what is happening on screen. One scene essentially goes like this:
And that is one of the 'exciting' scenes.
The only salvaging aspect of the film is that there are one or two visually interesting scenes, but they are all lifted straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and they only manage to be less spectacular than the 1968 classic, and much less intriguing.
The 'science' in this is all nonsense also. The film ignores or neglects to understand basic principles of physics and biology and just serves to add to the sense of silliness. Great science fiction takes known scientific theories and extends them and poses the question "what if..?", rather than just rough-riding over all known realities of science.
Now, I understand that films are often a matter of taste, and I can allow for people liking this film, but this is not a 'good' film: it is a very poor quality film, and that is scientific fact.
First of all, lets get one thing out of the way: this movie is dumb. This is about as intellectual and profound as 'Jingle All The Way'. The ideas and plot-line are something that might be expected from a 9 year old and are so full of overdone clichés and hammy faux profundity it's laughable.
This might be forgivable if it was all delivered in a fun and exciting way, but it isn't. It's really quite amazing that de Palma has managed to make something inherently exciting and interesting (travelling to Mars, discovering something world changing) seem so run-of-the-mill and uninteresting. I put this down to the script and acting, all of which is delivered with all the gusto you might expect in a conversation about taking the bins out. It's as if the production company came up with the basic premise and plot and then ran it through a computer quickly to 'populate' the film with characters and interactions. This is all the more remarkable considering that these are actors of apparently high standards (especially Cheadle). There is no emotion or sense of urgency/fear/stress/excitement/happiness/relief/loss/awe or in fact anything. The script is so basic it's incredible. Simple, monosyllabic sentences are the order of the day, usually just adding noise to what is happening on screen. One scene essentially goes like this:
- "You're floating away" - "Yes" - "But I don't want you to float away" - "Sorry" - "No!"
And that is one of the 'exciting' scenes.
The only salvaging aspect of the film is that there are one or two visually interesting scenes, but they are all lifted straight out of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and they only manage to be less spectacular than the 1968 classic, and much less intriguing.
The 'science' in this is all nonsense also. The film ignores or neglects to understand basic principles of physics and biology and just serves to add to the sense of silliness. Great science fiction takes known scientific theories and extends them and poses the question "what if..?", rather than just rough-riding over all known realities of science.
Now, I understand that films are often a matter of taste, and I can allow for people liking this film, but this is not a 'good' film: it is a very poor quality film, and that is scientific fact.