REELGUY'S REEL REVIEW: "Pandorum" a solid B-movie sci-fi thriller

"Pandorum" is solid B-movie science fiction that may also appeal to those who are scared by what goes bump in the night. From the same school of horror/sci-fi as "Alien" and "Pitch Black," "Pandorum" successfully creates the tension fans of thrillers crave. The film was done little justice by its advertising campaign and movie trailer. They made the story appear stranger and more one-note than what the filmmakers actually put on-screen. True sci-fi fans will find enough to like about "Pandorum" to overcome originality issues and the occasional lack of clarity.

The basic story is that in the far future Earth is close to self-destruction. People are sent aboard a large spaceship to find another planet to occupy. The trip is expected to take a long time, so the passengers and crew are put in cryogenic stasis. Crew teams wake up at certain pre-set intervals to replace the prior crew. Something goes wrong. Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid; "G.I. Joe") and Corporal Bower (Ben Foster; "30 Days of Night") wake up but the crew they are supposed to replace is gone. Could the psychological space sickness called pandorum have caused the crew to leave their posts? The crewmen soon learn there is something, not human, also lurking in the shadows of the ship. Additionally, Payton and Bower suffer from short term memory loss, an after effect of waking up from cryo.

The performances of the stars, Quaid and Foster, allow the viewer to become trapped onboard the derelict ship beside them. These characters are sympathetic and the actors make the situation feel remarkably believable. They meet allies and enemies on the way to the engineering section and the bridge, which brings the blurry back story further into focus. Who do they trust? What should they believe if their memory can't be trusted? And what are those creatures following them?

Unfortunately, the full explanation for the creatures' presence onboard the space ship is glazed over, as is the exact affect pandorum may be having on the ship's crew. Despite these minor story problems, the survivalist nature of the crew's experience and the creepy, organic feeling of the ship reminded me of another underrated sci-fi picture, "Event Horizon." Sure enough, the director of that picture actually produced "Pandorum." The inspired finale partially forgives the confusing final battle which leads up to it. The battle originated from a sadly unintelligible plot development that deserved better clarity. Like the ship itself, "Pandorum" is a decent concept with adequate production value that could have used someone to smooth out the rough edges.

Rated R for strong horror violence and language.