Dr. Unger (Embeth Davidtz), CEO of Europa Ventures tells the story of Europa One mission. Six astronauts embark upon a privately funded mission to Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, to find potential sources of life. Crew members are Captain Willam Xu (Daniel Wu), pilot Rosa Dasque (Anamaria Marinca), chief science officer Daniel Luxembourg (Christian Camargo), marine biology science officer, Katya Petrovna (Karolina Wydra), junior engineer James Corrigan (Sharlto Copley), and chief engineer Andrei Blok (Michael Nyqvist), During the flight, the members interact with cameras inside the craft. After a year of mission time, a solar storm hits the ship, knocking out communication with mission control. Blok and Corrigan perform extra-vehicular activity to repair the system outside, but an accident irreparably contaminates Corrigan's suit and he is left outside the ship as it continues its journey to Europa.
Europa Report is based on real life findings of water on one of Jupiter's moons in 2011. The movie is shot through the eyes of the cameras inside and outside the spacecraft and the suits and is claustrophobic and kinda annoying sometimes, but the cinematography is quite mesmerizing when it wants to be. The special effects, the scene where Katya saw the complex organism and it focuses on her eyes, and when Corrigan drifts off into space are particularly well done. The acting was subtle and perfect without any melodrama. It was great to see Copley (District 9), Wydra (House) and Camargo (Dexter) again. We know that this a doomed tale from the outset, yet it brings about optimism and awe right till the finish, something that is unfortunately absent in most big-budget movies which are drowned in cynicism. The main drawbacks are the unneeded nonlinear storytelling and the characters who weren't fleshed out enough for such a meditative movie. Though the non-linear narrative worked, I have a feeling a straightforward story would have had a far greater impact. This is a fantastic glimpse at a plausible scenario that could happen within our lifetime. What makes it good, even though it is quite predictable, is the execution and the ending. An understated, realistic, space exploration horror movie.
7/10
Europa Report is based on real life findings of water on one of Jupiter's moons in 2011. The movie is shot through the eyes of the cameras inside and outside the spacecraft and the suits and is claustrophobic and kinda annoying sometimes, but the cinematography is quite mesmerizing when it wants to be. The special effects, the scene where Katya saw the complex organism and it focuses on her eyes, and when Corrigan drifts off into space are particularly well done. The acting was subtle and perfect without any melodrama. It was great to see Copley (District 9), Wydra (House) and Camargo (Dexter) again. We know that this a doomed tale from the outset, yet it brings about optimism and awe right till the finish, something that is unfortunately absent in most big-budget movies which are drowned in cynicism. The main drawbacks are the unneeded nonlinear storytelling and the characters who weren't fleshed out enough for such a meditative movie. Though the non-linear narrative worked, I have a feeling a straightforward story would have had a far greater impact. This is a fantastic glimpse at a plausible scenario that could happen within our lifetime. What makes it good, even though it is quite predictable, is the execution and the ending. An understated, realistic, space exploration horror movie.
7/10