Mission to Mars (2000)

1.5 out of 4

Starring: Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Connie Nielsen, Jerry O'Connell, Kim Delaney, Armin Mueller-Stahl

Director: Brian de Palma

Time: 113 mins

What has happened to Brian de Palma? While once a director of classics like Dressed to Kill and The Untouchables, as well as the Hitchcock homages Sisters and Obsession, he is now a purveyor of schlock like 1998's Snake Eyes and this year's Mission to Mars. On the surface, Mission to Mars is an intriguing film, but is completely undermined by a plot that draws on everything from Apollo 13, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Abyss and Contact. Even the de Palma-helmed Mission: Impossible, a confusing mess in itself, at least had some kinetic moments. While there are 3 sequences in the film that captured my attention, I almost found myself falling to sleep during the film's first half-hour, which is usually not a good sign at all.

The film even has the audacity to begin with a group of astronauts gathered at a party, to celebrate one last night together before a manned flight to Mars. Sound familiar? If you've seen Apollo 13, it will be. Here we are introduced to Jim McConnell (Sinise, from - you guessed it - Apollo 13!), who was supposed to be on the Mars flight but had to pull out because of his dying wife; Luke Graham (Cheadle), who replaced him; and astronaut couple Woody Blake (Robbins) and Terri Fisher (Nielsen). There is a bit of chit-chat and male-bonding, but not too much is revealed about the characters.

Jump forward about a year. Graham and his team have set up a base on Mars. While on a routine scouting mission to a Martian mountain, a mysterious force rises out of the sands and kills Graham's crew. Meanwhile, on the World Space Station, hovering above Earth, Ramier Beck (Mueller Stahl) and Woody debate on sending a rescue mission. Of course, one is sent, with Woody, Terri, Jim, and Phil Ohlmyer (O'Connell) forming the team. A meaningless 15-20 minutes later, and we have our first dramatic situation, when the rescue team's ship is half-blown up on descent into Mars' atmosphere and the astronauts have to head outside into space. They rope in an orbiting satellite and make a crash landing onto Mars' surface. There they find wonders beyond imagining, including...no, I won't spoil it for you. Suffice it to say if you've seen 2001, Contact, or The Abyss, you've seen something similar.

The cast has a great pedigree. Cheadle (Boogie Nights), Sinise (Forrest Gump), and Robbins are fine actors, but they almost seem lost in this melodramatic mess. Did I say melodramatic? Oh, yes, there are a couple of emotional moments in the film, and de Palma milks them for all they're worth. They're obviously not worth very much, for all that results is stringing out the film about an extra 20 minutes. The special effects are, on the whole, very good, but in this day and age of CGI and post-Star Wars inspired magic, nothing less is to be expected from an adventure set in space.

It seems strange that 2 "sci-fi" films opens on the same weekend here in Australia (the other being Galaxy Quest). It seems even weirder that Galaxy Quest is showing on fewer screens than Mission to Mars, given that 1. Galaxy Quest was almost universally accalimed and Mission to Mars was almost universally trashed; and 2. Galaxy Quest was a sleeper box office hit in North America, and Mission wasn't. If you can, see Galaxy Quest. Even with a fairly big-name director and a quality cast, Mission to Mars is just a poor film.

(c) Joe Wong