Cargo

First of all I'm a bit curious about the low rating of the movie here (6,4). This is a great movie raising all sorts of questions to the viewer. Which is what a good movie is supposed to do. Identity, sense of belonging, isolation, and the essence of the human nature are just some of the things the movie touches on. Yeah there are plot points that have been explored before in other movies but seriously who cares? It's how you portray those situations and plot. So I wasn't disappointed there. In fact I wasn't disappointed at all!! A brilliant film that will speak to the audience that loved, "moon".

Congrats to all the people involved in this movie. Hope someday it'll be released on Bluray.

We have here a rather interesting sci-fi film in the vein of Sunshine, Moon or Solaris, where most of the action takes place in an isolated, enclosed artificial environment. It's in the future, Earth has been rendered uninhabitable for some undisclosed reason, and people live in squalid conditions on space stations in orbit. There's a new heavenly planet, Rhea, where people can emigrate to if they can afford it. Our main character, a doctor, gets hired for a very long (8 years) shuttle cargo round trip to resupply a remote space station. With her salary, she should be able to rejoin her sister already on Rhea. She, like the other crew members, is in cryogenic sleep most of the time except for 8-month awake shifts. As one can suspect, she starts hearing strange noises, senses some kind of presence in what should be a deserted ship. She wakes up a few people, and then things get worse when somebody gets killed.

One would think that this would be a premise for some kind of thriller involving a nasty alien creature. Cargo is not really that. Sure, it has good suspenseful moments, but it's the kind of slow-paced atmospheric pensive movie where you're more likely to be interested in the unfolding secondary mysteries than on discovering who the killer is, or who might be struck next. At least that was the case for me. My mind was going in overdrive trying to figure things out, inventing hypotheses, and I like that. Unfortunately, and I don't know if it's a translation issue from the original German (although it's a Swiss film), certain important plot elements were not made clear when they should have been. I had to check the Internet afterwards to properly understand a few things. Don't worry, we're not talking 2001 metaphysics here, far from it. :)

The characters were rather stoic most of the time, but at least they were ambiguous and not easily predictable. A particular blossoming romance didn't feel quite right, especially how it started. It somewhat hurt the emotional involvement later on, although you can see the director really tried for a good pay-off. I thought the main actress lacked a certain something, but she became more convincing as the film progressed, especially in one of her final scenes involving greenery. The special effects were of tremendous quality especially for a non-American film. Every space structure from the outside looked amazing. On the inside, it was appropriately dismal, sinister and even grandiose sometimes. I think Cargo might disappoint if you're expecting something more action-oriented. I personally enjoyed the story despite certain badly explained plot elements. I also liked it more from an intellectual perspective than from an emotional perspective.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (Good)

Switzerland's first attempt at sci-fi, and Ivan Engler's first feature film, Cargo harks back to numerous icons of science fiction cinema – everything from The Thing to The Matrix, and, most notably, Ridley Scott's Alien. It belongs to that particular breed of dystopian science fiction – where the world is ruined and the human race is living on borrowed time.

Cargo is a competent sci-fi, but it's nothing special. The first half is effectively tense and engaging, but it loses its way towards the end. Visually stunning considering the budget, but unfortunately, it's nowhere near original or creative enough to be considered a particularly revolutionary sci-fi film. SSP

Not sure what I was watching here it look like some one had stuck a few movies together

Blade Runner, 2001 A apace Odessy, Alien and the Matrix. Its hard to be original I know.

Of course the usual rules of Sci Fi are followed,

There is gravity inside the spaceship, non outside big scary spaceships must have leaking water everywhere because there are no plumbers in space. Air Ducts can take you anywhere in a space ship You must get through the giant door before it closes. Terrorists have beards Really bad Terrorists have even bigger beards

Although some new rules where introduced: In the future space ships wont have hand rails There will be snow inside them Space suits will accommodate Obese people Everyone can use a hand gun, in fact every one is space will get one

Cargo is dazzling, mystifying, sometimes scary, and is able to manipulate a rather familiar plot to seem less familiar. That last one however, is just as much a weakness as it is a strength. The film's problems are not on the screen, but on the pages.

Cargo contains a weighty story line, with questionable focus and a lack of coherency. There are also places where the movie feels draggy and repetitive. Characterization gets off the ground but not quite to the degree of emotion that was probably intended.

Anyone who sees Cargo is gonna wish they had seen it in theatres. Its greatest achievement is photography. I liked Cargo for its mystique and stylistic choices, but the writing and construction need a tune up. Its facade is perfect but its soul is murky, and its story is disoriented which does not allow us to appreciate Cargo to the full.