Pandorum

Pandorum (2009): Here is a somewhat big budget SiFi/action/suspense movie from Germany that while not perfect, does push many of the right buttons for an entertaining evening. Pandorum is the name for a condition caused by spending too much time in the loneliness of deep space which causes the sufferer to become wildly paranoid and dangerous. While it plays a part in the plot, there are bigger and more dangerous fish to fry in this pot boiler. The plot borrows liberally from many SF movies of the past but manages to tie them together into a reasonably coherent plot. It seems in the distant future, Earth has about run out of resources and has built a space ark of sorts to ferry a large population of humans to a new planet found many light years away. The ship is huge and most of the passengers are in a deep sleep condition to allow them to survive the centuries’ long voyage. Part of the crew is awakened to find that things are not as they are supposed to be and there are ‘things’ running around the ship eating the sleeping population. Not only that, but the main power source is not working right and may blow up at any time. The few folks awake must save the ship, avoid being eaten, and figure out what the heck went wrong. This does present a few very tense moments and should keep SF fans happy most of the time. While there are a few plot holes, over all, not a bad effort. The movie is rated R for: multiple heavy metal garbed roving cannibals, claustrophobia, unhelpful boots, rampant paranoia, rampant pandorum, and for the big finale ‘let’s take a walk on the sleeping cannibals’ scene.