Saturday, March 18, 2000

'Mission to Mars' deserves audience on Earth

Movie critics from coast to coast wrote off Brian DePalma's ambitious sci-fi feature "Mission to Mars" as a rocket to flopdom when it was released two weekends ago. And they had a good time doing it. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times wrapped up his trouncing of it with the line "In space, no one can hear you snore."
   Well, Elvis' critical senses must have left the building before he bought his popcorn. This movie is not a snore or a failure. It's also not slow or predictable or filled with hammy acting or any of those other things the thumbs-downers said when they panned it.
   In fact, "Mission to Mars" is pretty darned good family entertainment (sanctioned by NASA, there's not a naked limb or dirty word in it).
   The mission of "Mission to Mars" is a lofty one: to explain the origins of life on planet Earth. That's not clear in the beginning. The basic plotline is about NASA's first manned space mission to Mars in the year 2020. But DePalma opens up what could have been a cliche "Apollo 13"-type heroes-in-space epic into a broader exploration of the connections living souls might have to other living souls millions of miles out in the cosmos.
   Sounds like airy-fairy sci-fi twiddle-twaddle. But fans of writer Ray Bradbury will note strong similarities to his marvelous novel "The Martian Chronicles." (Ted Tally, one of five writers on "Mission to Mars," said it was an influence on his version of the script.)
   There are also visual and textual references to Kubrick's "2001" and a nod or two in the direction of "Contact" and "Close Encounters."
   In "Mission to Mars" all goes well with the exploration of the red planet until a mysterious storm erupting from a strange mountain on the Martian plains kills three of the four astronauts.
   A rescue mission is sent from a floating international space station. On board the rescue vehicle are a married couple (Tim Robbins and Connie Nielsen), a widower (Gary Sinise) whose astronaut-wife (Kim Delaney) died shortly before the Mars flight, and a slightly paranoid young computer whiz (Jerry O'Connell) with a penchant for M&Ms (which play a significant role in the story).
   An explosion on entry into the Martian atmosphere cripples the rescue craft, sending the four astronauts into a desperate space walk toward an orbiting supply capsule they can use to land. Only three of them survive the weightless waltz. (The number three is repeated subtly throughout the film.)
   The trio makes it to the planet's surface, where they find the lone survivor (Don Cheadle) of the first mission. In the year he's been marooned, he has made an astounding discovery - that the "mountain" is actually a huge replica of a female human face, inside of which may lie the secrets of the origin of man.
   Followers of creationism, beware. "Mission to Mars" is strictly pro-evolution, with a beautifully animated scene depicting how a strand of DNA sent through space eons ago ended up populating the Earth.
   The graceful spirals that make up human genetic material are the film's strongest symbols, spun out over and over again: A couple dancing free of gravity, colorful candies strewn in a figure eight, a frightening funnel cloud swooping over a red desert, a terrified astronaut twisting away from his lifeline.
   "Mission to Mars" shouldn't be easily dismissed. Made with intelligence, wit, gorgeous special effects and sensitive acting, it's a film that deserves an audience.
  
  

 
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