Pandorum Review

Published by Jeff Leins on October 10, 2009

Pandorum is a mildly engaging sci-fi thriller, but in a genre loaded with more substantial psychological exploration and classic human versus alien conflict this disposable movie just winds up lost in space.

The title refers to a mental condition of interstellar cabin fever that drives cooped up crews to madness.  There’s plenty of craziness here, especially as the second half scrambles and nearly jettisons the promising premise.

The year is 2174, Earth is overpopulated, and humans have discovered a distant planet called Tanis capable of sustaining life.  The floating Elysium is a massive ark containing thousands of people and humanity’s only hope.  Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) and Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) awake on the ship from a familiar form of suspended animation they call hyper-sleep with no recollection of where they are or where they’re headed.

Going in search of the failing reactor and any potential answers, Bower braves the dimly-lit corridors, sporadically functioning machinery, and eerie sounds.  Payton stays behind to guide him through the maze-like tunnels from a faulty control room.  But soon they both find they’re not alone, and it’s these supporting characters that tamper with the dynamic by shifting the focus off the main protagonists and changing the course of the plot.

Bower flees from snarling, flesh-eating aliens that gallop down the metal gangplanks and devour other randomly-introduced survivors.  These aren’t the stalking, stealthy creatures of Ridley Scott’s Alien, they’re a noisy breed of mutant cannibals that aren’t so much scary as they are disgusting.

Nor do they scurry in the shadows for long.  Soon there are hordes of them chasing and feeding.  The quiet crawl through spooky hallways looking for clues is ruined by loud, incessant growling and unnecessary, frenetic action.  A character even gets into a martial arts throw down with one of them, the eye-rolling moment when hope is abandoned.

Meanwhile, Payton trades over-acted lines with another intense flight crew member (Cam Gigandet) that tumbles out of the ventilation system.  The pair discuss their situation, calmly at first, but it soon escalates to a physical confrontation and a “who saw that coming?” moment of clarity.

With kung fu-kicking allies, a scantily-clad tagalong babe, and a few cheesy video game one-liners, it should come as no surprise the movie was produced by Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil).  German director Christian Alvert does what he can with more mainstream fare, but his ability to build suspense is squashed by a messy script cobbled together from earlier sci-fi horror entries.

2.5 out of 5.