Reviews are out for new found-footage style film "Europa Report," about a space mission that loses contact with their crew.
Critics are not completely bashing the film, but the reviews are split down the middle. To give you a little background on the film, Europa is one of Jupiter's moons where researchers believe there may be water; the discovery of water means there could also be potential for life.
Check out what The Washington Post had to say about the film:
The film mimics a documentary as Samantha Unger (Embeth Davidtz), the scientist who helmed the mission from Earth, recounts the events leading up to the moment when Houston lost contact with the crew. Dabbing tears from her eyes, it's clear that things went awry, although the presence of another interview subject - forlorn Europa mission astronaut Rosa (Anamaria Marinca) - seems to indicate that some may have survived....
For the most part, the structure of "Europa Report" works, blending footage from inside the shuttle, stunning images of outer space, faux archival news reports and first-person interviews. At first, the film is so engrossing and the images so arresting that audience members might have to be reminded this isn't an Imax documentary at the Air and Space Museum. That's a testament to excellent special effects, including stellar re- creations of zero gravity.
Here's snippet of what NPR thinks about "Europa Report:"
Tricked up with split screens and digital-video glitchery, this low-budget sci-fi saga emphasizes the claustrophobia and monotony of a long journey beyond Earth's gravity. But it also borrows gambits from horror movies, withholding information and eliminating characters one by one.
Thus, while Europa Report recalls such small-ensemble stuck-in-space flicks as Moon and Sunshine, it's basically The Blair Witch Project relocated to the vicinity of Jupiter. Something terrible has happened, and the endeavor's backers (whose spokesperson is played by Embeth Davidtz) must reconstruct the unfortunate events...
Yet all the verisimilitude doesn't make the payoff any more believable. While the voyage is painstakingly staged, Europa Report's final destination is just silly.
What do you think about "Europa Report"? Will you see the film? Check out the trailer and leave a comment below.
