tohaklim

Somewhat familiar genre tropes help to get through the first few episodes, while the plot gets going. Unfortunately, the further I went into Topi, the more captivating yet confused everything became.

Some of it feels like allusions to Bulgakov, yet the explicit scenes I still found over the top and not adding much to the story.

The ending left most of the storylines hanging, which was sadly quite predictable (or predetermined, if you will).

Don't regret the time spent watching this, mostly due to compelling performances from the cast (Max, Sonya and the police captain, to name a few) and a great setting.

I feel like I'm undervaluing the film by only giving it a 7. Granted, the story-telling is patchy in places and the horror part seems like it would've been better cut out, but the whole thing is fairly enjoyable. It could've done with a bigger budget, wider scope and focus on character instead of physical mutations. Pandorum is a fairly good horror movie, but you can certainly find better horrors out there. What makes it better is a well-designed core plot and good/great execution with solid acting. Certainly worth the 1.5 hours.

I am not sure how to explain the stark contrast between critic and user reviews for this film. All I know is, it is certainly very good from my viewpoint. It isn't even the storytelling, which is interesting, what with 4 arches throughout the film. Admittedly, some of the arches almost outshone the main one in some parts. The performance from the star-studded cast is (mostly) brilliant. Story development is a bit slow, and still it clocks in under 2 hours. Regardless, if you plan to watch this, an appropriate mood would be more important than the time you have. Another top-rated Will Smith movie in my IMDb history.