Movie & music reviews
SCI-FI DRAMA. With GARY OLDMAN, ASA BUTTERFIELD and CARLA GUGINO. Director: PETER CHELSOM. 7-9 PGL. Opens 9 February. Aged 16, the first human boy (Butterfield) to be born on Mars arrives on Earth – but finds it impossible to adapt. Then he meets and falls for a rebellious girl (Britt Robertson).
This space fable isn’t necessarily aimed at sci-fi junkies. It entirely fails to endear itself to viewers and comes as a disappointment, especially after last year’s Passengers and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It’s tired and lifeless; and as it was clearly made for a younger, restless generation with more texting skills than imagination you’d have expected it to have more voema. But the story sticks to the rigid rules of Scriptwriting 101 to such an extent that it doesn’t seem to have a life of its own, making it really boring. What’s more, Robertson’s character is irritating and there’s little spark between her and Butterfield – whose character is just too good to be true. When the girl finally comes to her senses it’s hard to believe.
The scriptwriter didn’t make use of the boy’s outsider status to create a contrast between a loveless young man in a strange world and the strange things that happen to him on Earth; this mine of comic and dramatic tension is never properly exploited.
Oldman overacts so badly that his character is totally unconvincing, while the excellent Gugino is wasted in a one-dimensional role. Without any style or a gripping narrative this is a predictable, dull and average movie. – LEON VAN NIEROP