The Last Days on Mars (B-)

"The search for life is about to end."

The Last Days on Mars is one of those rare movies that I might consider purchasing on Blu-ray. Though it seems that plenty of people have a lot of bad things to say about the film, I, for one, was pleasantly surprised by it. It may not be the most original movie ever produced, but it was competently filmed, the special effects were good, and the cast--at least in my opinion--was excellent. Of course, this sort of thing tends to happen when I go into a movie blind with nothing in the way of expectations, so... there's that.

A manned mission to Mars is nearing the end of its six months on the red planet with very little to show for it. The film begins with two astronauts, Vincent Campbell (Liev Schreiber) and Rebecca Lane (Romola Garai), picking up a third, Kim Aldrich (Olivia Williams), at her research site. Kim's lack of discovery enhances her normally acerbic demeanor, and she reluctantly returns to base with her two comrades. No one seems to like her very much, which isn't surprising given her bad attitude.

After the three return to base, Marko Petrovic (Goran Kostic) convinces the mission's leader, Charles Brunel (Elias Koteas), to allow him to return to his own research site to fix a damaged sensor. Brunel reluctantly agrees and sends Richard Harrington (Tom Cullen) along with him. This angers Kim, as she was forced to leave her research behind and return to base. She accesses Marko's terminal despite the protests of Lauren Dalby (Yusra Warsama) and discovers the real reason he was so hot to get back to his site.

"Marko did what? Man, that guy is such a jerk."

It is revealed that Marko has discovered some kind of bacteria, and despite his story about the sensors, was secretly returning to get a sample. By the time Brunel calls Marko and Harrington to put the kibosh on things, the sample is already being collected. Even as he holds the sample aloft in victory, the ground beneath Marko gives way and he falls into a pit, presumably dying in the process. Brunel and Dalby show up to help Harrington, but without the proper gear they're unable to climb down into the pit to retrieve the body.

Brunel leaves Dalby to watch over the site while he and Harrington return to base. By the time he returns to the site with Campbell, Lane, and the mission psychologist, Robert Irwin (Johnny Harris), in tow, there is no sign of either Dalby or Marko to be found. Though Campbell is lowered into the pit, all he finds is a strange, fungus-like mass growing at the bottom.

If this synopsis seems overly granular so far, I agree with you--there are a lot of characters to keep track of in a short amount of time. Once Campbell explores the pit, though, all hell breaks loose back at base, as Marko and Dalby have returned on foot. The two have been infected by the Martian bacteria, and it's turned them both into extremely violent space zombies.

"Pack your bags. We're leaving soon unless zombies attack."

From this point on, The Last Days on Mars is more or less a traditional zombie flick, albeit set on Mars. Stark differences from the norm are that environmental issues are definitely a factor, and there seem to be no weapons of any consequence available to the astronauts. The survivors try to stave off the zombies repeatedly without much success. As for the zombies, they're intelligent and apparently capable of using their hosts' memories and knowledge to overcome their intended prey. They're also very durable, fast, and nothing seems to slow them down (though they are all somewhat unsteady on their feet).

The movie careens towards its conclusion, with the ultimate finish being left up to the viewer's imagination--thought not in a bad way. There should be enough closure here to satisfy most people. I could see it going either way, honestly.

The Last Days on Mars's budget was apparently very low at 7 million pounds (approximately $11.8 million), but it wasn't obvious to me. The sets, props, and effects were well-done, in my opinion. I felt it was more entertaining than Europa Report (which I haven't reviewed yet). Liev Schreiber impressed me with his characterization of Campbell. He doesn't play a superman, but rather an ordinary guy with genuine flaws and emotions. I've always been a fan of Elias Koteas, and I really enjoyed Olivia Williams' performance (and I would've liked to have seen more of her on screen).

Dalby, post-infection. She just wants to be friends.

Though we don't get much chance to get to know some of the other cast members, most of them felt like real people to me. The exceptions here are Marko, who comes off as a rather shallow and egotistical jerk, and Dalby, who doesn't really get much screen time before she's transformed into a bloodthirsty space critter. Despite this, I think that first-time director Ruairi Robinson does a lot with very little at his disposal.

So the credits have rolled and The Last Days on Mars is behind me. Was it a completely original story? No, of course not. Did I like it anyway? Yes, I did. It's currently available on NetFlix, and at just 98 minutes long, you have very little to lose by giving it a chance... unless you're not a fan of zombie flicks. And in the end, no matter what you think, you can be thankful it isn't Apollo 18.

Frankenstein's Army (C+)

War is Hell, right?

This movie was... interesting. Not intellectually so, but from the perspective of someone who enjoys elaborate costumes and practical special effects. If I were judging films solely on their effects and costumes, Frankenstein's Army would have knocked it out of the park. Unfortunately, it was also plagued by pacing issues, tepid acting, skin-deep characterization, and not a single character I could empathize with (except for the German nurse, Eva, played by Christina Catalina).

The movie is in the "found footage" style, and has an unusual premise. A group of Russian military scouts is on patrol during World War II. They discover a repeating distress call on the radio and go off to investigate its source. The guy filming it all, Dmitri (played by Alexander Mercury) is doing it for posterity, on orders from (I assume) high command. The first thing you'll notice, though, is that it's filmed in color. I guess I can forgive this--there was color photography at the time, but it would have felt more authentic (to me, anyway) in black and white. Then again, maybe that would have made the film's gore less impressive.

Not one of the Russian characters is sympathetic. They're all cruel and bloodthirsty, with the possible exception of Sacha (played by Luke Newberry), an apparent lackwit who gets bossed around and insulted most of the time he's on camera. The worst of the lot is the hot-headed Vassili, played by Andrei Zayats, who enjoys torturing Germans and beating up women like any other all-around swell dude.

The long and short of the movie is that the Russians find the source of the distress signal, an old church, and poke around long enough to discover a strange creature that kills their leader, Sergeant Novikov (played by Robert Gwilim). The Russians argue over which of them will take charge of the squad, and it's determined that Sergei (played by Joshua Sasse) will take over for the disemboweled Novikov. Vassili isn't happy about it, but he relents when it appears that no one else wants him in charge.

Angered by the death of Novikov, the troops continue to explore the church and its surroundings and capture what appears to be its caretaker. After Vassili tortures him, the caretaker agrees to show them where the creatures are coming from. This is where the real fun of the movie begins, as the "zombots" come into play and begin to whittle the Russians down.

The zombots really steal the show. There's a seemingly endless variety of them, and given the fact that nearly everyone in the squad is a jerk for one reason or another, it's actually fun to watch them get butchered. Eventually, the remaining soldiers abandon Dmitri (for reasons I won't spoil for you) in the depths of the maze-like catacombs beneath the church. Dmitri encounters Doctor Frankenstein (played by Karel Roden), and the good doctor allows him to live so he can film his experiments.

He's such a nice man. Don't let the claws fool you.

The ending comes pretty suddenly, but it's not entirely unsatisfying. There are a handful of twists and surprises, which keeps the action fresh, but the story itself pretty rote. This isn't a particularly serious film, but it's not a comedy either, so gauge your expectations accordingly. If you can get past the acting and pacing, at least until the zombots show up, the movie is pretty enjoyable and filled with a large variety of "WTF" moments. I found myself laughing with delight at every new zombot, as well as the Russians' reactions to them.

Overall, I liked this movie. It's not really the direction I might've gone with a story where Dr. Frankenstein is making war machines for the Nazis. If you like practical special effects and amazing monster costumes, you should definitely take it for a spin.