Pandorum - Beautifully shot, amazingly acted thrill...

Pandorum (2009)

I didn't expect much from Pandorum when I went to see it. Therefore I was taken completely by surprise as to how incredibly good the movie was. It's very strange for me to love so much a strictly genre piece, but there you have it.

Pandorum follows the rules of SF/horror deep-space stories and doesn't stray into new territory, but it still manages to not seem a rip-off of anything, even when you see clearly which movies it was inspired by in specific scenes.

Pandorum is claustrophobic to the point of suffocation. It is darkly schizophrenic and vibrates with barely contained hysteria. It is also almost entirely devoid of cheap shocks, which is very much to its credit.

The movie delivers an amazing performance from both leading characters, but especially from Ben Foster whose Corporal Bower is both strong and vulnerable, barely keeping it together. He is so believable in fact, that at some point I almost began to feel some of the hysterics of his situation.



The camera is also great, especially in portraying the claustrophobic shaft sequences and the movement of the creatures infesting the ship Elysium. The way it focuses on characters' faces during specific moments also strengthens the atmosphere of panic and dementia.

All in all, Pandorum is far more than I expected, and I loved every second of it. True, it presents nothing original and sticks to the basics of a very limited genre. But he does it masterfully, with superb acting and a scorchingly engaging atmosphere. For me that is not only the SF, but also the horror movie of the year.

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