"SUPERNOVA"
PG-13, 100 m., 2000 Star rating: * * 1/2 (out of * * * *) Film Criticism By Zachary McGhee
I wish I was around when kids spent their weekends at the movies watching serials with each other, playfully shouting at the screen, just there to be entertained. I imagine an adult version of such fare would be "Supernova", a new sci-fi thriller in which the plot progresses at a playful tempo and the characters and the somewhat inane plot actually seem to be more important than the surrounding awe, unlike a certain big space blockbuster released two years back.
In future times (a specific date is never given), small crews are apparently sent into deep space for assorted missions, the subject of which here is the Nightingale, a rescue vessel touring the universe just in case there's a distress call from other space missions. The crew consists of six, Benjamin (Wilson Cruz), Danika Lund (Robin Tunney), Yerzy Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips), lead doctor Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett), newcomer, a former military pilot, Nick Vanzant (James Spader), and their captain (A.J. Marley). Quick into the film, they receive a distress call from another dimension and are forced to "jump" into it. The captain is killed in the jump and Spader's character takes over as captain.
So, in the middle of all this madness, who sent the distress call? Apparently a name that Kaela recognizes, Carl Larson, "your worst nightmare". Or is he? He says he's Troy (Peter Facinelli), Carl's son, who has just discovered an amazing secret of life, an odd enigma of an object which makes you grow stronger physically, but, as suggested by the holes in the film's plot, not mentally, and may be doing more harm than good. What follows is a series of quick paced, occasionally quick witted, events.
Indeed, Thomas Lee's (a pseudonym for director Walter Hill) "Supernova" definitely has its flaws to go right along with its, as they say, moments. Let's start with the obvious. This is one hades of a spaceship. It's huge, and that's not hyperbole. It could match those space stations in "2001". And while that's fun to look at sometimes, and may be impressive, what's it doing here? They're just a rescue crew made up of roughly seven individuals who tour the galaxy waiting around for distress signals. Why all that hardware for so few people with even littler opportunity to use it? And they aren't even particularly good effects, even if they are big.
Then there's those off-the-shelf, standardized subplots. Namely, romantic encounters between Bassett and Spader, and Phillips and Tunney. Since when did the government start providing a big old spaceship (lest we return to that subject) so that groups of people could have private orgies in deep space? From the futuristic setting, I thought Clinton was long out of office in this movie.
But, what I liked about the movie is that occasionally the characters shone through those effects as well. I'm not rushing to give credit to screenwriters, though. The dialogue isn't bright, but the more talented of the ensemble make it sound interesting. James Spader seems to be the most effective at this, though Angela Bassett comes close too. They made a movie that could have been a tepid, uninvolving replay of other equally pathetic films into something mildly entertaining, even passable.
And then there's the little things, like the ship's original captain earning his PhD from watching old episodes of "Tom and Jerry", or Bassett routinely shouting "STAT!" in her medical dialogues, apparently inferring that she got her degree from watching reruns of "ER". Or the fact that there must be a little interference from Troy in the relationship between two of our protagonists, simply so their can be a conflict between the two men.
There are some interesting ideas established throughout "Supernova", but the problem is that they are ignored in favor of a depressing, fight-it-out, man to man climax, and so I cannot recommend it. I am reminded that roughly one-half of the way into "Supernova", when asked about the aforementioned odd, life renewing object by her crew mate, Bassett remarks that it must have been made by someone "Smart as God and a lot less nice." And? Who are they? Gee, I dunno. The studio that turned down this script before it went to MGM?
[To receive a free weekly newsletter of reviews from Zachary McGhee e-mail mcgheezc@aol.com]
Zachary McGhee is a high school student in the eastern U.S. He formerly was the webmaster, founder and editor of ReelGuide.com and The DVD Factor, and now writes film reviews on a regular basis for the amusement of those who care to read them, and his high school newspaper.
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