Mission to Mars (2000)

reviewed by
Steve Rhodes


MISSION TO MARS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

Brian De Palma, who hasn't made a decent movie in over a decade, surprising shows with MISSION TO MARS that he can still be as good as he once was. And for a director who is known for his proclivity for excessive violence (SNAKE EYES for example), he brings in MISSION TO MARS at just PG. (Actually, given its intensity, a PG-13 might have been more appropriate, but that's a minor quibble.)

In a film that pays homage to many other science fiction films that have gone before it, most notably 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, MISSION TO MARS manages to feel fresh, not derivative. An imaginative and magical film, it has a mesmerizing effect on the audience as it builds slowly toward the big secret.

The story and script, which has no less than 4 names attached (Lowell Cannon, Jim Thomas, John Thomas and Graham Yost), concerns two missions to Mars in the year 2020. After tragedy strikes the first mission, another crew is sent to rescue any survivors of the first. Don Cheadle plays the leader of the first crew. Tim Robbins, Gary Sinise, Connie Nielsen, and Jerry O'Connell play members of the crew on the rescue ship.

De Palma's staging choices are truly inspired. In a light-hearted moment, two married members of the crew dance in the weightlessness of outer space. This sequence dazzles with a gossamer beauty.

Another breathtaking scene concerns a space walk gone bad. Using the quietness and solitude of space, De Palma gives us a disaster in real-time that feels like slow-motion.

Only the music by Ennio Morricone (THE LEGEND OF 1900) sometimes goes strangely wrong. Half of the time it is lovely, and the other half it is gratingly inappropriate.

A few of the scenes are delicately funny. What can you do with Dr. Pepper in space? How about using it as a salvation aid?

MISSION TO MARS runs 1:53. It is rated PG for mild science-fiction violence. The film would be appropriate for kids 11 and up, although many younger ones might enjoy it as well.

The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, March 10. In the San Jose area it will be playing at the AMC and the Century theaters.

Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com


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