- Sensibility: Suffers from the strains on suspension of disbelief common to the sci-fi genre. Some moments with the interaction between the two species and
their cohabitation survival are hard to accept.
- Cinematography: Beautiful production design, color-grading, and lighting. The puppet work on Rocky is excellent and the visuals are memorable and meaningful throughout the story. Only weakness is some editing issues that make scenes clunky or dialogue feel out of place, particularly during the early parts of the film.
There are also some rather bothersome shot-to-shot inconsistencies, particularly with a pair of glasses and some other gear. Also, some sound design for rocky is too derivative, particularly a screeching sound that is
identical to the Ackaly from the Star Wars prequels and some near monkey-like sounds which feel strange coming from a extraterrestrial lifeform.
- Energy: Great range and depth of emotional content keeps the film interesting. The flow is let down only by a few editing mistakes and a few times where the film feels like it's going to end only to be extended further.
- Narrative: Perhaps the only science fiction film I've ever seen that is really a story about love and friendship. The film strays away from the commonplace plot fillers in most science fiction stories to the benefit of the experience as a whole. Some of the more interesting scientific aspects are glossed over to avoid getting bogged down in minutia but there are some features that probably merited some further investigation and explanation.
However, the film is let-down by its juveline nature and relentless appeal to humor. The humor is fun and light-hearted, but so pervasive in almost every scene that it cheapens the most dramatic and meaningful parts of the film. In addition, the opening bit of memory loss struggles to reconcile with the remainder of the film. Worst of all is the presence of three distinct endings for the
film, the second two which add insensibility and unnecessary run-time to the film.
- T-Points: The film received five bonus points: one for a great set of scene transitions from off-axis shots on the ship to off-axis shots back on Earth, one for great production design, one for a great soundtrack/score, one for a
sequence around some gold plaques displaying mankind's evolution, and one for some of the visuals over Tau-Ceti.
Definitely a crowd-pleaser for all ages. Unfortunately, this broad appeal is also the film's weakness, straying from any grit and intense drama and staying comfortably in a simple slot of humor that helps attenuate the
terrifying realities the characters are facing.
Number of Watches: 2
