It may contain some of the best space-bollocks since Lucas dreamt up his
Midichlorian c--p but that doesn't detract from it being one of the best space
adventure movies for a long time.It's a simple enough story; 'Mars I' sets off to put the first men ( and
woman ) on Mars, encounters a bit of, "What the f--k is that ?". 'Mars II'
sets off to rescue the survivors, encounters a bit of, "Well, knock me down
with an alien feather !", we discover the origin of life on Earth and we all
live happily everafter.
From the opening credits, the photography and direction was unbelievable,
superb is an understatement; shot with crystal clear precision from the
steadicam shots at the pre-launch party to the closing scene.
The special effects are equally astounding from the brilliantly coordinated
rotating spaceship set, the exploding hand effect to ... well almost everything.
The script and its execution is likewise worthy of praise, despite the somewhat
sentimental rubbish and the ludicrously quick analysis of what 'the head' was
all about and the resolving of its mystery - I almost expected them to whip out
a Casio organ to solve their riddle.
Product placement was, unusually, blatantly brought to the fore as
Dr Peppers saves the day and M&M's
earn their rightful place in the human genome project.
Given the right circumstances, it's going to be hard not to utter the immortal
words, "Quick, we're going to die - Open the Dr Peppers !"
Amidst the great action and adventury there were some massive flaws, some truly
amazing rubbish but nothing managed to dent the brilliance of this film.
Creationists are unlikely to be overly impressed by the claim that we were
seeded by the Martians dumping their DNA at the start of evolution, but you
can't please everyone all the time. Americans can at least take solace in the
fact that the Stars and Stripes was placed centre shot so many times
that I was surprised there wasn't a credit for Flag Placement.
There was a good dose of sentimentality, beefed up by the fine background music,
and healthy helpings of heroism, sense of duty and adventurous spirit.
Ignore those critics who have totally slated the film and ignore the falling
box office takings; this is an excellent piece of cinematography, a pleasure
to watch and a wonderful homage to Kubrick's 2001, A Space Odyssey.
