pontram

Storyline, writing, directing, acting, scene, photography, effects, wardrobe.... The perfect mix of all components together in one surprising gem of a production.

Yes, I took the main sentence of one of the 1-star reviews here and modified it to what pretty much sums up the impression I had from this movie.

It is, in my opinion, a rare case, where an unexpected watch led me to a wonderful experience.

Whoever may have expected some Bruce Willis movie clearly didn't read the synopsis. It's a light-hearted, well-played, well-written little comedy about a little family that settles in a small town, only to learn that this town will be the impact center of an approaching asteroid.

And though there isn't real drama or any action, the movie kept me sitting through to the end.

I wanted to give it 7 stars, but for upping it a little, i gave 8.

And I ask my self, why good movies off the mainstream get low ratings.

Someone decided to put an upright piano into the living quarter of the station, a thing that is about 200 kg - who would have permitted this ballast in times of virtual pianos ;-) That's one of the many nice ideas that give this production some humor and atmosphere, elevating it from other current SF movies (as rare they are now for unknown reasons).

I put this into a virtual category "New Space Pulp Cinema" for its ingenuity on certain levels, while otherwise being quite old-school and, to my disappointment, too gory and predictable, though extremely well-made.

In case of the main actress (only Ms. Gonzalez and Mr. Paul have noteworthy parts, where the latter mainly supports her) it's a bit of a head-scratching for me, I think she is a decent actress, but not quite up to the task here, which I don't blame her for, since said task is extremely difficult here and requires also a much more experienced directing in terms of leading the actors to bloom.

Said directing is overall inspired and good, very modern, even astonishing professional and talented, since Mr. Lotus is mainly a composer, and this project seems to be his first job as director (besides composer, and actor). But, as I mentioned, his skills for leading his actors need some improvement.

Technically, the movie has great camera, style and CGI/FX.

The pacing is also on point, and therefore, at least for me, suspense.

Where it absolutely shines is in the music department, courtesy of Mr. Lotus.

The script though, like in many other productions of today, is the real weak point here.

It builds up suspense, mystery, atmosphere, wherein the movie follows brightly, but fails to deliver something astonishing, or fascinating, like 'Annihilation'. It ends up similar to 'Sunshine', which got back on track during the last three minutes or so, here, this one did - not quite.

Too generic is the climax, too easy and derivative the solution (which we mostly anticipated).

So this idea-rich movie graded itself down through lack of ideas. Pity.

I tried to rate it 7 stars, which is in my system "very good", but could not justify it. It's definitely not lower than a six, a very solid six.

A tip: Wait for the end credits.

This movie is obviously made with very limited resources, including dialogue, acting, CGI.

The pacing is well, and the story itself not uninteresting. The characters, hmmm, ok, they have little more depth than in a soap opera of the 80s.

The acting seems wooden sometimes, but I blame this, as always, 70% on the director. He may have a good eye for scenery and filming, but actors leading skills should improve.

And there are the Effects. I often wonder why (even cheap) productions of today can barely match "Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning" from 2005, made by a sole artist with his home PC (ok, it took him 7 years).

All in all, five stars seem sufficient for me, since the movie has many aspects of a professional production and did good enough to entertain me.