The first thing to say about this film is that, as a relatively low budget and relatively unknown release I did not have many expectations of this film being an impressive watch. I was happily suprised – don’t expect originality as in District 9 but do expect some reasonable twists and turns in what is a superior sci-fi thriller if you consider the great glut of poor sci-fi out there such as Resident Evil, Aliens Vs Predator, Supernova [particularly tedious], or Sphere. The superiority is in part down to Ben Foster who has proven his ability to play intense believable characters in films such as 3:10 To Yuma, 30 Days of Night and the not so great Hostage with good old Bruce Willis.

The opening scenes begin with Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster’s characters waking from a long hyper-sleep with no knowledge of what their mission is or where they are. All they know is that they cannot leave the room they are trapped in and must find a way to free themselves. What follows is an intriguing plot with more than adequate levels of suspense. Director Christian Alvart allows the nature of the crews fate and impending doom to be revealed a little at a time rather than an approach taken by Paul Anderson [Producer] to turn his films into a more gruesome run and shoot affair.

Considering the films budget, the intelligent set design [mainly the uninviting utilitarian heavy duty industrial interiors] does owe something to Event Horizon and whilst I haven t checked, I would expect the same team to have worked on Pandorum too. This all adds to the atmosphere and provides a sense that the plot is about to get darker and more intense.

The only thing that really lets the film down is the generic and over-the-top ‘beautiful aggressive female fighter’ character that was the fairly geeky signature of films like Resident Evil. Once you get past that, Foster’s character dominates and overcomes this slight annoyance at that particularly predicatable cliche.

Occasionally the film becomes a little confusing and maybe this is all part of the journey as the crews “Pandorum” sickness manifests itself in different ways. The viewer understands early on in the film that something nasty happened to the crew but we’re not really sure why or how until the end and whilst the final scenes are no great surprise or innovation, they bring a satisfying conclusion to the film.

Not stunning but if you like sci-fi worth a watch and a definite break from the AVP-esque drivel we are constantly fed.