Okay, here's the deal. For some reason, I've been thinking a lot about when I was a kid in elementary school. Maybe it's 'cause I've had a run of kiddie illnesses over at the clinic here lately. Lots of chicken pox, enough sniffles and stuff for my own tissue franchise, and, of course, the old "sticking stuff into the nose that won't come out" trick. Had five of those in a week. Two marbles, one Wintergreen Certs breath mint, one dime, and, the one I had the most trouble with -- the twist-off top from one of those Squeeze-It drinks that kids drink now. Poor little tyke had that thing wedged in there good! Looked like Arnold in Total Recall, pulling that tracer out of his head. All's well now, though.
Of course, there could be another reason for my longing for the chalkboards and spelling books here lately. See, when I was a kid, March was a special time of year for me. March meant that springtime was here, and summer was coming. Summer -- what a magical word. Three whole months with no school! No teachers hollering at you, no homework, no getting up early, or going to bed early. Summer was freedom, man.
Nowadays, I'm not wishing for time to pass so quickly. The day I hit 30, I realized that time was passing a little quicker than I had counted on, so it pains me to see summer coming. It may bring nice warm baseball weather, and an abundance of movies, but, other than that, it's a signal that that time keeps right on running.
The folks at Disney don't seem to feel the same way though. They're under the influence of the Summer 2000 rush to get a big ol' blockbuster out there. They've publicized their newest live-action feature, Mission to Mars, like it was the 4th of July weekend, with everyone from Will Smith to Bruce Willis going up against it. This thing is as well-hyped as Armageddon and bigger in scope. In short, summer came in March this year. Problem is, though, like so many Summer 'Busters, Mission to Mars is good, but nothing near the hype.
We meet the crew of the first manned mission to Mars at a backyard barbecue in the year 2020. Commander Woody Blake (Tim Robbins) and his wife and fellow crewperson Terri (Connie Neilsen), mission Commander Luke Graham (Don Cheadle), chief scientist Phil (Jerry O'Connell), and Jim McConnell (Gary Sinise). At one time, Jim was supposed to be heading up this mission, but his wife went through a prolonged illness and eventual death, and this sidelined him for a long period. He was bumped to the second string crew (you know, if these guys had seen Apollo 13, they would've known better than to take Sinise out of the crew.)
From the party, we jump to 13 months later, the mission in full swing. Graham has taken a landing party down to the Mars surface, exploring and sample-taking. But, when they go to take a simple x-ray of a peculiar mountain range, the whole range erupts into an explosive reaction, a violent cross of a hurricane and a volcano. The astronauts still in space, namely The Blakes, McConnell, and Chief Scientist Phil, decide to drop to the surface and rescue any survivors.
I'm going to stop there on the big picture, to save the surprises for you to experience.
For the most part, Mission does, indeed, make a pretty good film. With Brian De Palma directing, you should prepare for anything, though. And, yes, in true Brian fashion, we do get another zigzag tracking shot just like Snake Eyes and so many others. This one is at the party, and it's how we meet everyone on the mission. But, thankfully, after this one "remember me -- I can direct" shot, DePalma settles in as director instead of "artiste." Not near as many ego shots as is his norm, and the film is better for it. Brian does do his usual thumbing through the film catalogue, though, and he swipes some classic sci-fi images for his movie. The best use of these comes when the rescue crew is forced to leave their spacecraft for a risky spacewalk. It instantly reminds one of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's a tight, squirm-causing sequence that suits this film nicely. Look for other homages to The Abyss, Close Encounters, and other classics.
It's a bit surprising that, with a cast of this caliber, nobody really draws your focus more than anyone else. Don't get me wrong, now. This is NOT an ensemble production, where everyone's great and everyone blends well and all that. It's just that everyone here is a bit blander than usual. Robbins and Nielsen are a mediocre couple when it comes to chemistry, just a white-bread American couple who happen to be astronauts. Sinise and Cheadle both work much better in tension, but here they're overly restrained.
Once over and credits rolling, I suddenly felt like I'd just watched someone's demo reel. I saw a lot of very classy special effects, some slick scenes, and a few honestly beautiful visuals, but they were all wrapped into a story that didn't suit them. I mean, without giving away the nice little surprise that is the main point of the movie, the story seems like something that was written by Rod Serling or Ray Bradbury. That's not a bad thing, not at all. But it's already partially given away in every promo the folks at Disney have sent out for months now. If you watch the commercials carefully, and notice what's going on, this whole movie is for naught on the "surprise plot twist" scale. With Warner Bros. readying a "mirror movie" called Red Planet to open later this year, I would've thought someone would have huddled down with a word processor and pushed the limits of science fiction instead of settling for a warm fuzzy wrap-up.
A side note here on the whole "mirror movie" thing -- how stupid is this, Hollywood? Volcano and Dante's Peak, Deep Impact and Armageddon, Antz and A Bug's Life -- now Mission to Mars and Red Planet. Why make two movies at virtually the same time, about virtually the same subject, and then get all mad when one is better than the other? And why race to see who gets one out first? In most cases, the second one turns out better. Maybe because the first one came out, and the people making the second one could sit back and see what worked and what didn't, and re-edit to suit the need? Nah, nobody would do that, would they? I'm surprised with all the hype for the upcoming X-Men movie that nobody decided to rush a Fantastic Four or Justice League film into production.
As I step from the pulpit, let us sing Hymn 238, "Thy Film and Thy Cast, They Comfort Me....."
People, if you can drag yourself through the tar of the first thirty minutes, Mission to Mars is worth seeing. It's not a perfect sci-fi thriller, but it's a good watch in these sci-fi-free times known as Oscar Month. It's been a while since we've had this type of believable science fiction, the type that's just around the corner instead of 400 years hence. And, for all his quirky faults, De Palma has offered up a pretty dang good effort. Strap on your best Velcro boots, and give it a look. Some thrills, some hot SFX, and a few nice twists will more than cover the stumbles elsewhere. But, hey, you're bound to trip once in a while in the Final Frontier, right?
Image copyright Touchstone Pictures.
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Mission to Mars