At long
last, technology and knowhow have combined to send man to a
place beyond the moon. If not at warp speed as of yet,
but at sonic speed. The destination for this crew of
scientific pioneers? Europa, the fourth moon of Jupiter,
and the name of the ship on which they will be
traveling. But if the trip went well, and they made it
back safe and sound and it was all good, then we wouldn't
really have a movie to watch, now would we? The trip…
well… didn't go great. But fortunately we have FOUND
FOOTAGE of that trip, and a video report of what happened to
the good ship Europa in director Sebastian Cordero's very well
realized found footage space opera, 'The Europa Report'.
Let's meet our crew, shall we? Our captain and leader is
William Xu (Daniel Wu), his co-pilot is Captain Rosa Dasque
(Anamaria Marinca), we have Chief Engineer Andrei Blok and his
right hand man James Corrigan (Sharlto Copely), and finally we
have science officers Katya Petrovna (Karolina Wydra) and Dr.
Daniel Luxembourg (Christian Camargo). I believe it's
going to take about two years to for the Europa to make it to
Europa, and since this is the modern age of television,
cameras will be stationed all over the ship and broadcast back
for the world to see. What they didn't mention, but what
no doubt would be necessary, would be the Tide, Bud Light and
Head Shoulders banners flying under the video. You know
that's how it would be.
Unfortunately, about six months in, communications is
lost. Also, we lose a crew member. This movie
plays with the timeline of the lost footage so we have moments
where we're with this crew member and moments where we are
without this crew member and eventually we get to witness how
this crew member is lost, and I have to say it is one of the
sadder scenes in a movie I've ever seen.
Still, the
mission to Jupiter must carry on. The thought is, due to
probes sent in the past, that at one time there could've been
life on Jupiter. Now from what we know scientifically
this seems unlikely considering the temps in that area of the
galaxy hover around absolute zero and the radiation from the
sun is pretty high since there's no ozone or anything like
that protecting the planet, but it looks as if there might be
water on Jupiter, and where there's water, there is usually
life. That's what they tell us.
Anyway, our astronauts finally hit Europa's orbit and the pod
descends to the surface. The plan is to drill below the
ice, do some analysis and then head back to the rocket and go
back home. Since this movie is a Found Footage Film,
there's a good chance they aren't going to make it back home
since its Found Footage and not Hand Delivered Footage, but we
hold out hope for them. Wait… is that a light in that
Andrei just saw through the window? Let's hope he's just
tripping, and let's hope that the drill wasn't attacked
underwater… better still, let's get in the pod, get out of
here and go home. That's me talking. Our
scientists didn't travel close to a half million miles to cut
and run at the first sign of trouble. And as such,
hopefully the found footage will tell the whole story.
If one were to ask me, Sebastian Cordero's 'Europa Report' is
an impressive achievement on many levels. For starters
it has an actual basis in science, delivered in a style that's
authentic and believable, yet also made easily consumable by
the audience. That, all by itself, is an
achievement. Another thing we appreciate is that in a
sea of sequels, remakes, and adaptations, this is a
semi-original story. I only use the word 'semi' because
there was an air of familiarity surrounding 'Europa Report' as
the movie played out, but the narrative penned by Philip
Gelatt still managed to maintain an air of wonder and surprise
as the events on the Europa developed. A narrative which
is simple but also deals with more complex human conflicts
such as loss, loyalty, loneliness and dedication to the
mission. But also one that doesn't unnecessarily inject
any worthless melodrama into the narrative since none of the
characters on this long journey felt any need to sleep with
each other. Thank God.
Now 'Europa Report' isn't the fastest moving movie out there,
but it does use its time efficiently, as this slower pace is
effective in building tension when the situation calls for it,
and it also gives us a clearer view of our ship members and
their personalities. Thus if one of them should pass on,
or two… or more… it has some impact.
What I didn't particularly care for in 'Europa Report', and
this is a pretty major issue, is the end. I'm still
trying to work this out personally, and without giving
anything away, something about the 'big reveal' which just
didn't sit all that well with me. I'm not sure if it was
the delivery, or the subject matter or what, but it felt
incongruent with what we had experienced up to that point, and
changes the type of movie this is just a little bit.
There are some other odd things, more along the lines of
inconsistencies that pop up while watching the movie, plot
points that felt as if they were inserted because the film had
to reach a certain point, as opposed to something that would
actually occur. For a multibillion euro mission, I gotta
admit the Europa seemed a little unprepared.
Flaws aside, the good far outweighs the few negatives as
'Europa Report' is that rare movie that excites, while at the
same time, stimulates the intellect just a bit. An
impressive achievement.
