dir. John Carpenter
In the not-too-distant future, Earth has colonised Mars. A group of police officers are faced with the ghosts of Mars’ original inhabitants, possessing human beings in a bloody vengeance campaign. Unfortunately each and every character, from Natasha Henstridge’s “strong woman” protagonist, to Ice Cube’s embittered felon, to Jason Statham’s leering joker, is a tired cardboard cut-out – so it’s hard to care whenever anyone is possessed by a jerky, growling spirit. The worldbuilding is patchy to the point of absurdity, including people referring to eyewear as “breathers” (so people breathe through their eyes in the future, presumably?), and constant references to a matriarchal society that have no bearing on the plot at all. There’s no consideration of the plight of the colonised, with very basic good/bad lines drawn and never examined. The music, despite drawing in talented electric guitar legends, is a repetitive dull headache. And half the scenes are so physically dark they’re barely discernible, but considering the unbearably slow-paced action sequences we do see, maybe that’s a small mercy. Even the movie seems to get sick of itself, abruptly ending as the characters gear up for a big battle. Perhaps they were expecting a sequel, but thankfully, the threat posed by Ghosts of Mars stops right here.
