Review of Europa Report (2013) by Brian H — 05 Jul 2013

SPOILERS: It's a found footage film. That should already tell you three things. Underdeveloped characters, shaky cameras, and everyone dies. That's all true in Europa Report which instantly takes away any form of suspense in what's labeled as a "Thriller.

" I was excited for this movie for one reason. Sharlto Copley (the actor who portrayed the main character of District 9) was shown to be the star. That was incorrect, because he dies before they even make it to Jupiter's moon, Europa.

I was also excited when I read that Europa could possibly have living organisms under the icy surface. The goal of the six astronauts is to find proof of life. This is what the main problem of the film is.

They had a chance to show unique, jaw dropping creatures. Instead, they're black octopuses that have a few lights on them. This is shown at the very end with the last survivor's death. After that, I wished they would have kept a "Paranormal Activity" style and not shown the creature at all.

The film does have a few thrilling moments and the acting is good. Europa also looks amazing and it doesn't over do the shaky cam like most found footage films. The movie is an extremely short one hour and twenty minutes so you don't have to watch it for long.

However, I think that's another problem. Because it was short, we lost time for suspense, character development, and potential scares. It's also told out of order, which continues to pull me out of the crew's point of view.

Over all, I think it's a weaker entry into the ever growing found footage genre that should have died with Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, and REC.