Polizón

Well, it had actors. And it had dialog. And there was a plot. So I guess it was a movie. Nothing overtly bad about this movie. But nothing really great either. Just a movie about a problem in space and a plot that crawls along, with no real twists (except predictable ones), no great dialog, no great acting. Just a movie about some stuff that happens. OK to watch if you want to pass the time. Just don't expect a lot.

I had big expectations of this movie. SF Thriller with great actors and amazing visuals, and short description sounded quite interesting. With that budget and great acting team, and strong visuals, how could it go wrong? Well, it did. Problem is it didn't go anywhere. Story, especially mystery thriller was non-existent, characters had no background and were bland and one-dimensional, so much wasted potential. I gave it 5 starts for visuals and acting but actors could do so much with bad story and bad script.

Problem is, there is no mystery, at least, not explained mystery, not even searching. They opened with interesting event then just closed with open ending which, at least to me, made no sense. And I felt like I watched nice trailer or commercial, almost 2 hours long. As for SF part, there are a lot problems in scientific inconsistencies and errors and so many things that made no sense or bear no logic. So much money invested in research that was so poorly planned and was not resistant to one single error. Some things just don't happen, especially not in high profile, super-expensive missions. This movie expects us to suspend our disbelief too much.

So in short, no real thriller or mystery, sf failed a lot on science part, too many illogical things, characters undefined and flat. And I was really waiting for this movie!

The main problem with this movie is that it just feels really dull. There is one character in the movie that gets some form of characterisation and actually allows for you to care for them, however, the other 3 have almost no characterisation making it practically impossible to care for them as much as the movie makes you want to. The cinematography and acting is fine, but nothing great, however the direction feels a bit bland. You never really get any sense of tension or stakes and this is worsened by the dull characters. There are several moments I thought the movie could do something unique or clever, but instead it just went along with a plain, almost predictable plot. You can't say you've never seen a movie like this, with several others doing much better. I can't say I hated the movie but it just wasn't anything special.

Zoe (Anna Kendrick), David (Daniel Dae Kim), and Marina Barnett (Toni Collette) launch into space on a two year trip to Mars. Less than a day after takeoff, a 'Stowaway', Michael (Shamier Anderson) is found in an access panel and with his discovery, the life support systems begin failing. It becomes a race against time to find a way to survive aboard a space craft without enough oxygen for four people.

The acting is fairly well done and the script is predictable, but entertaining. The flow is solid and the ending is satisfying, but a lot of questions are raised about the validity of the science around the film. Why do certain plot points need to happen? This film feels a lot like 'Gravity' (2013), in that it's enjoyable if you don't think too much about it.

Worth a once over.

This is the first time I've seen Anna Kendrick in a serious dramatic role and she nailed it. This is a movie based on a moral dilemma but it also deals with themes of courage, self-sacrifice, hope and resourcefulness. There were a lot of science inconsistencies but the movie was not about science but was all about the premise. Excellent casting with Toni Colette, Daniel Dae Kim and Shamirr Anders giving solid performances. I give this film a 6 (fair) out of 10. {Moral Dilemma Drama}