How long do we have left on Earth? With our dependence on the dwindling natural resources, "Pandorum" predicts that humans will be competing over what’s left on Earth in only 150 years. Also offered is a solution to the problem.
Its name is Tonis and it’s the only Earth-like planet we have been able to locate. The film focuses on the mission that Dennis Quaid’s ("The Express") and Ben Foster ("3:10 to Yuma") embark on to get to the planet and start life anew.
Director Christian Alvart ("Antibodies") keeps the audience on the edge of their seat with a suspenseful plot and great timing during his "quick-scare" scenes. His cast performs well as a great mix of personalities striving to work together for one common goal.
Quaid plays Lieutenant Payton, a man who plays more of a stationary role while he guides Corporal Bower (Foster) to his desired destination on the ship. Quaid fits the role well as the calming leader, although he does tend to over-act at certain points with his trademark eye-widening and jaw-drop.
Foster plays the role of the brave corporal who is sent out to explore the ship after he and Quaid wake up from their hyper-sleep. Neither of them remembers who they are at first but the more they remember, the odder the situation seems. As Foster ventures out into the gigantic ship to return power, he is met with a variety of people and creatures.
As Foster ventures throughout the ship, Quaid loses radio contact and is left alone in the ship’s flight station with no knowledge of what’s going on. This leads to what the movie defines as "Pandorum."
Foster’s trek throughout the movie seems to have an underlying theme: work together to save humanity. He and the people he joins clash at first, but they put their troubles aside in order to save each other. This speaks loudly against war and large disputes, telling the people that, worrying about the bigger picture is more important than fighting over who is superior or right.
One of Foster’s allies during the movie is Manh, played by Cung Lee. Lee is not really that recognizable from past performances, but really embodies the "muscle" in this film. When things need to get done, Mahn steps in and does it using a gigantic sword that suits his style of fighting perfectly.
Foster also gets a lot of help from Nadia, who is played by Antje Traue. Traue had only been in German films up into this point, but her role in "Pandorum" may be her American breakthrough. She was initially supposed to be in control of bringing plants and animals to Tonis, but is now forced to battle for her own life. She has a better understanding of the ship than that of Foster, but is still clueless to what creatures are chasing her, once saying "I’ve never really stuck around to find out."
Cam Gigandet ("Twilight") plays Corporal Gallo, a man who has been awake on the ship for a while and has managed to escape. He is pulled to safety by Quaid, only to reveal to him that something has gone terribly wrong on the ship. Gigandet is convincingly frightened and strikes fear into the audience with his confusing words and repetition of fear of "Pandorum."
The special effects are well done by the crew. The ship’s size and the new weaponry used really speak volumes to how far technology can actually progress in the next century. The main focus was clearly the creatures, that had tremendous detail to their every feature. As a whole, their goal was to scare the audience, which clearly worked.
