Review of Pandorum (2009) by Toddc. — 24 Jan 2010

I'm somewhat surprised to see a really, really bad review for this movie by the Critics. Maybe 50%, but not as low as 28%. It's like Equilibrium; there's great potential. Don't take this movie as a professional, high-budgeted movie.

I will say that this movie would be enjoyable to certain types of people, and based on User Reviews, majority say it's pretty good. If you like survival horror, then this movie might just be for you! Also might be enjoyed by sci-fi fans.

And for those Xbox360/PS3 gamers who have Dead Space, this movie is like that (I've noticed that someone else in the User Review mentioned the game too!), but with less shooting and more running away, trying to survive, from man-eating humans.

Yes, the main characters are being chased by....humans, or more like humans who evolved to survive inside the ship. I would like to mention for those who can withstand watching horror movies and games, it is not very scary, but more suspenseful, more "on-the-edge-of-your-seat" type of movie.

So I hope if you do watch it, you love survival and not looking for hardcore horror. I guess it's just how I am, but I like the feeling when the characters have no clue where they are, what they are supposed to do, and they're stuck, trying to figure what is going on, like the game Myst.

Yes, it does take patience to finally know the whole scenario. But I liked the plot. Here's a small summary about the movie (I'll try not to spoil) : The main character, Bower, and his Lt., Payton, are awakened in their space ship.

After awakening from hypersleep (a long hibernation), they realized the Flight Crew # 5 was not there to greet them (Bower and Payton are Flight Crew # 6, I believe). Flight Crews rotate command of the ship.

All non-active flight crew members go back to hypersleep. Bower and Payton became suspicious after realizing that the ship seems to be having problems, especially with the power supply. There was no response from the bridge (command center/navigations/cockpit) and from Flight Crew # 5 (who were supposed to greet Bower and Payton), and thus must investigate what is going on.

On Bower's way to the source of the ship's power supply, he discovers these weird humanoids, and they are definitely hostile creatures. From there, he must try to stay alive, while figuring out what happened.

He meets a few other survivors, and will sometimes recall some memories that he forgotten (due to temporary amnesia from hypersleep) which will reveal why he was part of the flight crew, why the ship was built, and where the ship was heading (it's main objective of voyage).

Though survival horror movies have had a very common storyline (Main character must figure where he/she is, main character must survive, main character kills some enemies, main character is the only survivor, The End.

), it is unique compared to others that I watched.