Hello good readers,
I love all sorts of stories and don't really care how they get in my brain, so I often watch films.
I had heard some buzz on Twitter about Europa Report and since I could watch it on Amazon for less than going to a theatre I thought I would give it a try.
This is one of those movies that I really wanted to like because it's truly science fiction, and you don't get to see much of that in films these days. There's more and more science fantasy and super heroes but less and less actual sciencey movies.
So, I set down with great anticipation to watch the film.
What follows contains Spoilers so if you haven't watched the film yet go do so and come back. Seriously, Spoilers. Here they come.
First, what I didn't like. The film suffers from a very slow first act, painfully slow. We learn about the mission from people who aren't on the mission through the documentary style of the film. They just sit there and recount what happened. Not only is this slow, but it has the added side effect of the viewer spending less time with the crew of the spaceship.
Therefore, when stuff does finally start to pick up, instead of feeling emotion, I just said, "Meh". This is because I really didn't know any of the characters, and if you don't care about the characters it's hard to care about what's happening in general. This disconnect along with some questionable editing is the downfall of the film.
Sounds like I hated it, but I didn't, because the film has two things that save it.
One, it's about something. It's about exploration and the human desire to explore the unknown. This is a great theme and one that should be mined for stories more often.
Second, was the ending. The ending was just satisfying enough to make me feel like I didn't waste my time. I won't spoil it for you too much, but one word, tentacles.
Overall, I suggest this film. It wasn't perfect, but it was solid with good special effects.
