Certain films appear to be nothing more than a patchwork of already used ideas, constructed from the detritus of cinema history. Yet, at the same time, they often look as though they could be something extraordinary if only their authors made a little more creative effort to stitch those ideas together into something unique. Pandorum (2009), a science fiction horror film directed by Christian Alvart, looks like one such film. It wears its influences on its sleeve, promising a night of thrills and chills that tease the viewer with the suggestion of a deeper, more intelligent narrative hidden beneath its familiar surface.
The narrative begins with a prologue set in the year 2174. The Earth is overpopulated and its resources have been exhausted, leaving humanity with a singular, desperate chance for survival: the launch of the massive spaceship Elysium. This generation ark is tasked with transporting 60,000 colonists to a distant Earth-like planet called Tanis. Given the voyage is expected to take 123 years, the vast majority of the passengers are kept in cryosleep, with only flight crew teams waking up at regular intervals to maintain the vessel.
The protagonist is Corporal Bower, played by Ben Foster, who is a member of one such maintenance team. He wakes up suffering from amnesia, a side effect of hypersleep that immediately throws the audience into confusion alongside him. It does not take long for him to realise that something has gone terribly wrong. He stumbles into Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid), who is also suffering from memory loss. The two men notice the ship is losing power and conclude there is a malfunction with the reactor. While Payton stays behind to supervise the computer systems, Bower ventures out to look for the reactor himself.
Bower's journey through the ship is a descent into chaos. Along the way, he encounters dead bodies and meets a mysterious woman (Antje Traue), who warns him about strange, cannibalistic creatures that roam the corridors. As he continues his quest, Payton is contacted by Corporal Gallo (Cam Gigandet), a member of another flight crew who claims his fellow members succumbed to "pandorum." This is a space-induced psychosis that makes its victims act in the most violent, irrational, and destructive manner. It turns out that "pandorum" might indeed be responsible for the chaos that has engulfed the ship.
Pandorum was indeed a patchwork. Its origins are somewhat messy; the film originated as two separate scripts—one by an American writer Travis Malloy set on a prison ship, and another by German director Christian Alvart about a generation ark ship where passengers suffer from amnesia. They were fused together thanks to Paul W.S. Anderson and Jeremy Bolt, the producers who would ultimately helm the project. Despite this disjointed origin, fans of science fiction cinema will find Pandorum to be an interesting combination of various motives. It ranges from futuristic generation spaceships and hard science fiction mystery to claustrophobic horrors in line with Alien, touches of zombie apocalypse, and even martial arts action brought to good measure. The script looks very logical, and the twist at the very end is quite unexpected.
The film, shot in Babelsberg studios in Berlin, also had rather a decent budget of $33 million, and this level of funding shows in certain scenes, especially during the flashbacks that give some glimpses of the protagonist’s life back on Earth, as well as during the spectacular finale. Yet, what goes on in the middle, that takes place at the actual ship and its clustery, claustrophobic surroundings, is burdened by a specific visual style. The cinematography is deliberately dark, partly to tone down the violence and hide truly disturbing images. This approach, unfortunately, together with choppy editing, makes the film look too confusing to the audience and can make it look cheaper than it actually was. The impression is made worse by an uninspired techno-like soundtrack by Mischl Britsch, which fails to provide the necessary atmosphere to anchor the viewer.
In terms of performance, the acting is very solid. This is especially true in the case of Ben Foster, who plays the confused and reluctant protagonist with conviction, and the same can be said for the usually creepy Cam Gigandet and the always solid veteran Dennis Quaid. German actress Antje Traue, on the other hand, looks more like eye candy than a fully realised character. The casting also includes Cung Le as a non-English speaking farmer, which feels like a wasted opportunity, and Norman Reedus in a "blink-and-you-miss-him" role. These wasted performances highlight the film's troubled production history, as producers actually had ambitious plans with Pandorum, which included making a prequel and a sequel that would make a trilogy. However, poor reviews and even worse commercial results nixed those plans.
Ultimately, Pandorum is, despite obviously wasted potential, a solid piece of science fiction cinema that could be recommended to fans of the genre who enjoy references to true classics sprinkled in its content. It captures the feeling of isolation and dread that defines the best of the genre, even if it stumbles in its execution. It is a film that tried to do too much by blending disparate genres and scripts, resulting in a confusing middle act, but it succeeds enough in its core promises to warrant a watch for those who enjoy a good space horror.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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