It seems like all I do lately is watch movies. Not that that’s a bad thing. Imagination is the cornerstone of invention, no? Anyway, I crept off by myself to watch Pandorum. I was expecting mid-grade science fiction, on par with Event Horizon and Soldier. I was pleasantly surprised, however.
Originality is for all intents and purposes a finite commodity in today’s saturated markets. That said, the makers of Pandorum took some standard sci-fi elements and forged them into an interesting story, if not an original one.
We join the survivors of a colony expedition in deep space, as they attempt to piece together what’s happened to their ship, crew and mission while they’ve been in cryogenic stasis. Add a little “I Am Legend” and some lamoe action (last man on earth - thanks Max Brooks for that brilliant term!) and a splash of 30 Days of Night and you’ve got a movie. More precisely, you’ve got the film Pandorum.
Good effects, predictable plot, and cannibals all take a backseat a rather subdued but competent performance by Dennis Quaid. Personally, I think Dennis is capable of much more, but was working a character that was rather two dimensional.
Regardless, Pandorum plays like an easy sci-fi flick, and the DVD will make great shelf filler, being pulled off occasionally when a guest says “Oh, I sorta wanted to see that.”