Red
Planet (2000)
Those who can, do; those who can't, steal. Of course,
the really good thieves can make it seem like it's
theirs to begin with. "Red Planet" is nothing more
than a blatant rip- off of Kubrick's "2001" with just
enough stuff morphed into something new and just enough
action popped in to placate sci-fi's less demanding
(and youthfully ignorant) fans.
The film centers on a manned mission to Mars. It's
2057 or somewhere around there and mankind has, yawn,
killed the planet Earth and we must colonize Mars
to live. Scientists have been sending algae plants
up to the planet trying to get them to grow and produce
oxygen so we can move in (there goes the neighborhood)
but it doesn't seem to be working. Earth, and more
specifically what is presumably America, send up a
6 man team to check stuff out. As the only female
and the leader of the mission, Carrie-Anne Moss narrates
the opening and closing segments of the film. Her
pretentious and pedantic tone lets us know she's a
serious girl. Riding on a ring-shaped spaceship that
circulates curiously like the one in "2001," the six
spend a mere 15 minutes (posing as 182 days) to get
to the planet. During this time, and through Moss'
yammering, we have learned the basic stuff we need
to know about the crew/stars. Terrence Stamp is a
scientist looking for a higher meaning to life. Tom
Sizemore is a alcohol-swilling good guy who will help
you out of a jam. Val Kilmer knows how to fix stuff.
Benjamin Bratt has a bit of an attitude problem and
is pretty much a buff egotistical hardass. Some other
guy is a squirrely wuss. All of these actors portrays
these stereotypes as if it were Shakespeare and not
crap they were being asked to present.
Oh yeah, also along for the ride is a big creepy mechanical
"dog" looking thing that is supposed to map the planet
with the crew. Of course, since it was designed by
the army or something, it has an attack "mode." It's
no surprise to us when the damn thing goes haywire
and starts killing the crew. It's like the Hal-9000
with sawblade hand attachments.
But as much as it plagiarizes, "Red Planet" somehow
manages to entertain too, as long as you check your
cerebellum at the door. The special effects and the
look of the film are really cool. Everything looks
crisp and clear and awesome thanks to director Anthony
Hoffman and DP Peter Suschitzky. His cinematography
is sharp as is the "light and magic" and the whole
piece is always interesting to look upon. Also, the
story, which is "2001" given legs (i.e. plus action
sequences and minus the theological hoo-haw), keeps
you entertained. Watching the crew members disappear
and wondering what is going to happen next can be
fun. There are some red herrings and plenty of moments
that make you call "bullshit," but overall it's fun
and pretty easy to get into the film.
Looking cool but being empty-headed (kind of a cinematic
Victoria's Secret model), "Red Planet" is a pleasant
diversion for sci-fi fans during a pretty dry year
for the genre. Anyone who wants something serious
or believable, however, should go elsewhere.
Note:
The film was in a release date war with "Mission to
Mars" (3/2000) until it opted to wait for that film
to be released (and the furor over that film's badness
to die down) before being released some 8 months later
(11/2000).
The film was known simply as "Mars" during production.
