

Mars-upials
Red Planet

By Ross Anthony 

It's big, it's round, it's red ... Mars. It's big, it's exciting, it's 
got thunderous seat-shaking bass, a frisky dangerous robot, some 
dazzling special effects and a script freakishly devoid of life ... "Red 
Planet." 

But then there's Kilmer. He's wonderful, "I really hate this planet." 
And the rest of the crew working overtime to make this arid, barren 
screenplay livable for humans. 

The year 2050, the Earth has been poisoned, polluted and populated 
nearly to death. In hopes of carving a new home, Earthlings have been 
sending algae to Mars for twenty-five years in order to build up an O2 
atmosphere there. A good idea, however, something's wrong ... all the O2 
has disappeared. "Red Planet" details the exploits of the first manned 
spacecraft sent to Mars. The mission - find out what's going on up 
there. 

Actually, If you like science and astronomy, you might find that premise 
pretty tantalizing - that and all the cool tech stuff like the fully 
active computer maps. However, apparently, the filmmakers were quite 
aware of the mysteriously missing human drama in the script; that's why 
they injected several attempts to simulate emotion. And simulated 
emotion they achieved. No one will be fooled. Amee, the cyberdog, is a 
fantastic cg accomplishment. She's detailed and complex in movement and 
design. You'll love her! But she's such an obviously contrived 
antagonist, that it's not easy to take her seriously, except as 
something way cool to watch. 

The other bone thrown grows from a blow atop a stone. I had to groan. 
This is the scene in which one member gets mad and pops the other member 
in the helmet sending him plummeting down a hill. Such an event has 
great potential for drama, but the anger is so isolated and pointless 
that instead of a swell of emotion, the viewer is left confused and 
insulted. An earlier scene establishing the attacker as a hothead would 
have really helped. Or an argument in the capsule over just how to 
handle the landing maneuvers would have backed the bite needed to 
support a skirmish. As is, it's just a quick fix to accomplish a story 
progression. That goes for Amee as well. Why that dog didn't chew 
everyone to bits ... I'll never know. 

Anyway, though not very deep in deep space, I thought "Red Planet" was 
pretty good fun. And while the dialogue offers little to jettison home 
over; the very likable cast still manages to spout a few zingers to give 
the crowd a chuckle or two. Oh, and I loved the little astronaut icon on 
the Russian computer. 

Red Planet. Copyright © 2000. Rated PG-13. 
*  Starring Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tom Sizemore, Benjamin Bratt, 
Simon Baker, Terrance Stamp. 
*  Directed by Antony Hoffman. 
*  Written by Chuck Pfarrer, Jonathan Lemkin. 
*  Produced by Mark Canton, Bruce Berman, Jorge Saralegui. 

Grade..........................B

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Copyright © 2000. Ross Anthony, currently based in Los Angeles, has 
scripted and shot documentaries, music videos, and shorts in 35 countries
across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. 

For more reviews visit: http://www.RossAnthony.com 

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