The Last Days on Mars

I remember when this came out having absolutely no interest, though the solid cast appealed nothing else did. Now I've seen it I see that I was wrong, mostly.

Starring Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas and Olivia Williams the film has no issues with it's cast. The premise being of the horror sci-fi type was not what I expected and I certainly mean that in a good way!

The film was interestingly constructed, had my attention and when the first encounter took place it had me gripped. This was good! This was really good and I couldn't wait to see where this adventure was going to go.

Sadly shortly after the quality starts to dip, the potential I saw gets thrown in the trash and the incredible movie I foresaw faded away. Gone was the premise, gone was the tension, gone was the interest.

Sure it doesn't get bad, but it doesn't retain the same quality and it certainly doesn't utilize its potential. I was fascinated by this concept so why did they have to drop the ball so badly? There are so few movies that deal with such subject matter so when one comes out and wastes it's opportunity it's heartbreaking.

The Last Days on Mars is still a watchable affair but damn it should have been so very much better.

The Good:

Starts strong

Great cast

The Bad:

Quality dips hard

Disappointing ending

The above description just about covers it,though it's nicely shot, and the cast includes Liev Schreiber, Romola Garai and Olivia Williams, it's a nothing special tale where an alien and or infection takes the crew down one by one, lotsa running down corridors and opening and closing air locked doors, you know the drill!

If this is the best and brightest Earth has to sent into space we need to defend NASA. If this is how people act after 6 months in isolation we need to train crews better. They argued, made stupid decisions, and disobeyed orders just like normal people, not people who have trained their entire lives for space travel.

I liked it!!! I didn't love it, but I liked it!!! A great sci-fi horror movie. That's all I expected from it and I liked it. One thing, though and this may be a spoiler of sorts so consider yourself warned. All the dialogue that was at the beginning left me wishing that the whole movie could have been like that, not fall to the usual horror genre. The beginning was very intelligent and entertaining. The actors were very good together! The back and fourth worked. Too bad it had to fall to the monster movie thrill pack it ended up being although I liked the ending. Yes, I got what I expected and I liked it. It's just...it had the potential to be so much more.

When watching the trailer I couldn't help but feel intrigued. Although it gave you a basic idea of what the film was about (the title is a massive clue), it didn't give any sign of the problem that would occur. I liked that, normally it is just standard procedure for a newly released movie to throw its cards on the table and show the inquisitive audience what to expect. "The Last Days on Mars" doesn't exactly follow in that tradition and leaves you guessing up until the moment the horror is realised.

Although location and purpose is completely different i couldn't help but associate it with "Sunshine"; of course with a less stellar cast. Just the crew falling apart, and mentality being tested in such environments. Not to take anything away from this, it does have its own display of originality, the location (mostly Jordan) was simplistic but effective; not needing Transformers to take away from the scenery. I thought Liev Schreiber played his part well, he gets a lot of flack, but he produces a solid display of acting. Everyone else just did their job; no-one really stood out.

Now although I enjoyed this film, there where several things that bugged me. Acting left a lot to be desired. The little flashback back-story was very, very anti climatic. Some of the characters where in need of a slap and the story lacked certitude.