The Last Days on Mars (***)
Directed
by: Ruairí Robinson
Starring:
Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas, Romola Garai, Olivia Williams, Goran Kostić,
Johnny Harris, Tom Cullen, Yusra Warsama
Seen:
May 29th 2014
***
Out of ****
I
wasn’t expecting much walking into The Last Days on Mars, as I had to go to an
out-of-the-way cinema in a relatively run-down part of the central business
district (does that still mean what it did fifteen years ago?) to attend a
last-day screening of the movie. I am glad I did though, as it is far better
than many movies that get big releases and stay on circuit for far too long.
The movie is filled with a pervasive and growing sense of dread and even
features a really smart soundtrack, events kicking off with a great and fun 30’s
track (Blue Skies Around the Corner by Jack Hylton – excellent song) as a large
dust storm is headed towards the Mars base.
The
Last Days on Mars begins as a six month mission for an international team on
Mars is coming to a close, with just under 20 hours left before the team is to
be picked up. Vincent Campbell (Schreiber) and Rebecca Lane (Garai) are on
their way to pick up researcher-colleague Kim Aldrich (Williams) to get ready
to go home. Kim doesn’t take well to this, she feels rushed on her last day with
some work still incomplete. Back at the base Marko Petrović (Kostić) convinces
Captain Brunel (Koteas) to allow him and Richard Harrington (Cullen) to go on final
rover run, but Petrović has other plans – he has found life on Mars, and wants
to investigate some more.
At
the excavation site Petrović lifts a container in the air before falling into a
collapsing fissure to his presumed death leaving Harrington with the fallout.
Lauren Dalby (Warsama) takes over from Harrington when he goes for help. She’s
intent on saving a possibly injured Petrović, but doesn’t do it. When the team returns
Petrović’s body is gone, and Dalby is not in sight. They return to base and are
surprised when the two lost astronauts show up; they open the door but are
greeted with trouble, both Petrović and Dalby are not human anymore, and they
have one thing on their minds – murder. One by one the team is infected and the
desperate fight for survival gets intense as the Aurora lander’s timeframe
approaches. The team have to stay on the move between the main base, the
rovers, and the research laboratory but things don’t look all that well. Their
escape is going to be tight.
Liev Schreiber
leads a good dramatization of science fiction horror as the strongest team
member, with Romola Garai as his subtle love interest quietly impressing, just
as she did so many years ago in a completely different movie, I Capture the
Castle. Olivia Williams is always solid, whether she plays a ballsy cop
(Sabotage) or an insane research scientist as she does here. While Elias Koteas
doesn’t last all that long, he certainly commands a quiet presence. The only
character I hoped would not be around much longer was Warsama’s annoying Dalby,
and thankfully her arc ended rather soon.
The
Last Days on Mars is really enjoyable and eerily tense, with understated drama
and scarily realistic horror. I like this one a lot, and won’t complain too
hard at all if I had to watch it again.
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