Why do people go to mediocre sci-fi movies over and over again, seeing basically the same movie, the same plot, the same characters in every single one? My best guess is that special effects are like drugs. Viewers see something they like once but always want to see the newest thing in the next movie. They are always searching for that better high.
Red Planet - PG-13
Starring:
Val Kilmer and Carrie Ann Moss
Directed by:
Anthony Hoffman
Now playing:
Showplace East 11
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Please, don't fall into this trap and go see "Red Planet." There is nothing original about the rerun of "Mission to Mars." Even the coolest special effects are regurgitations of "Terminator," "Starship Troopers" and "Armageddon." And trust me, things never taste better the second time through.
"Red Planet" opens with Commander Kate Bowman (Carrie Ann Moss of "Matrix" fame) voice-over explaining the depletion of Earth's resources and the planet's hopes of populating Mars. Scientists have planted algae on the red planet, but the oxygen levels have mysteriously dropped.
Enter the Earth saving crew. One one-dimensional character after another is introduced. Val Kilmer plays Robby Gallagher, the mechanical engineer "Fix-it" man also known as the "space janitor," hah hah. Terence Stamp plays the "soul of the crew," i.e. the old guy, a scientist who has turned to God for answers. He utters the ingeniously insightful sentence, "I realized that science couldn't answer any of the really important questions." And Benjamin Bratt, so wonderful on "Law and Order," is criminally wasted as the hot-head hottie of the crew.
During the alleged sexual tension scene between Moss and Kilmer, the actors don't even try to feign attraction. The novelty of having a female leader has worn off in sci-fi movies and Moss, who doesn't leave the ship to battle it out on Mars like the men do, seems more like futuristic-looking eye candy than anything else. The smartest woman on the ship has to be the voice-activated computer who runs it; she's the only one in the movie to get a good quip and a laugh. It's really not worth it to try to explain the patchwork plot after this point. Questions are raised but never answered.
The bottom line is, if a sci-fi movie doesn't have good special effects, don't see it. As a mass audience, let's demand both good plot and good visuals. At this point, that would be truly inventive.
