Review: Pandorum

The latest Paul W.S. Anderson produced thriller certainly isn't without its flaws, but in a time when horror duds like "Sorority Row" and "Jennifer's Body" are gracing the screen, "Pandorum" is a breath of fresh air.

In this sci-fi suspense film, Bower (Ben Foster) and Payton (Dennis Quaid) awaken on a broken-down spacecraft after years of hypersleep with no idea of where they are, who they are or what their mission is. The ship appears to be abandoned, so Bower ventures into the darkness of the spacecraft, searching for anything that might help them while Payton stays behind to guide Bower via radio.

On his journey through the ship, Bower makes several shocking discoveries. As he starts to regain awareness, Bower remembers it was their mission to transport people from an over-populated Earth to the Earth-like planet Tanis, where they hope to sustain life. He remembers their families were traveling with them, but he has no idea where they are.

Bower runs into a few other survivors, who have been fending for themselves for months while he and Payton were in hypersleep. But he also encounters something else that has the remaining survivors fearing for their lives - something that may not be entirely human.

I didn't know much about "Pandorum" before I saw it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's certainly not an amazing film, but it's very entertaining and suspenseful. The story is captivating, and the atmosphere director Christian Alvart creates is an intriguing backdrop for a sci-fi thriller. Knowing that these people are trapped on a dilapidated ship with no foreseeable means of escape, surrounded by nothing but dark, vast emptiness creates a continuous sense of fear.

Overall, the performances were quite good. Foster is really what makes the movie. His Bower is a strong, relatable lead, and I believed him as a character even in the film's most unbelievable situations. I think Foster is one of the most promising young actors right now and, unfortunately, one of the most underrated. He was underused in "X-Men: The Last Stand," and his supporting roles in "3:10 to Yuma" an "30 Days of Nights" were some of the few things I liked about those films. In "Pandorum," he continues to showcase his potential.

Antje Traue also gives a solid performance as Nadia, one of the survivors Bower meets on the ship. But a few of the other supporting performances left something to be desired. "Twilight's" Cam Gigandet may be nice to look at, but that's about all he has to offer in this film. His character, Gallo, plays a key role in the second half of the film, but Gigandet distracts from the significance of his role by overacting. Quaid's performance is also uneven. At times he does a decent job, while the rest of the time he takes note from Gigandet and overacts as well.

Overall I was very intrigued by the story and it held my attention from beginning to end, but toward the end of the film it felt as though writer Travis Milloy got a little carried away with the direction of the story. But no matter how often I thought I knew what was coming next, I was consistently surprised.

If you want a truly high-quality sci-fi thriller set aboard a spacecraft, I suggest renting "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle's superior "Sunshine." But especially in this downtime between summer blockbusters and Oscar hopefuls, "Pandorum" is definitely worth the ticket price. B-

Review: Jennifer's Body

Since I loved "Juno" so much, I had high expectations for "Jennifer's Body," the sophomore film from Oscar-winning writer Diablo Cody. Perhaps I set the bar too high though, because what I expected to be a sharp horror comedy was nothing but a bloody disappointment.

"Jennifer's Body" revolves around the friendship between popular Jennifer (Megan Fox) and nerdy Needy (Amanda Seyfried). When the girls go to the local bar to see the famous band Low Shoulder, tragedy strikes as a fire burns down the bar and kills several high school students. Amid the chaos, the band's lead singer, Nikolai (Adam Brody), pursuades Jennifer to escape with him and the band. When Jennifer shows up at Needy's house later that night covered in blood and vomiting black tar, it's clear that something supernatural is happening.

As the community grieves for those lost in the fire, Jennifer begins satisfying her new-found hunger for flesh by killing and eating the boys in her class. As Needy begins to piece together what happened to Jennifer the night of the fire, she must try to stop her friend from murdering more of their classmates while even Needy's boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons) doesn't believe her claims that Jennfer is demonic.

I know "Juno" is a love it or hate it movie for most people, but I found that film refreshingly sharp and witty with a lot of heart and spunk. I get what Cody was trying to do here. Combining the plucky humor of "Juno" with the teen horror genre is an interesting idea, but "Jennifer's Body" fails in its execution.

Cody's trademark quirky style and hipster dialogue worked well for "Juno," but here it seems forced and stale. It's hard to believe this script is a product of the same woman who won an Oscar a couple of years ago. But even after "Jennifer's Body," I don't think Cody is a one-trick pony. I think she has talent, but she should stick to the types of comedies and dramedies that are more conducive to her unique style.

Karyn Kusama's directing is decent but not particularly memorale. Most of the acting is mediocre at best. Though Fox is ever so slightly better in this role than in "Transformers," she really serves as nothing more than a teen boy sexual fantasy in this role. If Fox wants to be taken seriously as an actress, she needs to take a page from the book of Angelina Jolie and push herself beyond her sex symbol status.

J.K. Simmons and Amy Sedaris are funny in their small roles, and Brody does a solid job as Nikolai. But the one real standout of the film is Seyfried. She broke out in last year's "Mamma Mia," and even in a dud like this she still shows a lot of promise. Seyfriend makes Needy the only character in the film that feels believable. While Fox's performance is mostly flat and monotonous, Seyfried manages to bring some emotion and intrigue to her character. Her Needy is a heroine you want to root for.

Despite having a script that doesn't always flow well, lackluster directing and mostly uninspired performances, "Jennifer's Body" isn't the worst horror movie I've seen. There are a few memorable one-line zingers and a handful of suspenseful moments. But overall, "Jennifer's Body" is a bloody mess, and not in the way a horror comedy should be. D+