VOYAGERS : Wednesday 21st April 2021.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'VOYAGERS' at my local multiplex last week. This American Sci-Fi drama is Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Neil Burger whose prior film making credits take in 2002's 'Interview with the Assassin', 2006's 'The Illusionist', 2011's 'Limitless', 2014's 'Divergent' and 2017's remake of the acclaimed French film 'The Intouchables' with 'The Upside'. Originally slated for a release at the end of November 2020, the film was pulled from the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was released earlier this month. The film cost US$29M to produce, has so far recouped US$3.5M and has garnered mixed critical reviews so far.

The film opens up in 2063 and we are told that the future of planet Earth is doomed due to the ravages of climate change, drought, and disease. The only alternative for any hope of humankind surviving is to find a planet capable of sustaining life as we know it, and lo and behold, one such planet does exist. The problem is that it will take eighty-six years to get there. So, the powers that be, breed a crew of brilliant cadets who will live in sterile conditions from the moment they are born by artificial means, and will not know of life outside the confines of the purpose built space station they inhabit until such time as they are old enough to launch for that far away planet. The aim is that when they board the ship, they will in time procreate during their long journey into deep space with the intention that their grandchildren will start over on the distant planet. Enter Richard (Colin Farrell) a scientist, who up to now has played a pivotal role in the upbringing of the cadets from their very earliest days and wants to join them on their mission, even though he knows it is a one way ticket and he will not live long enough to see the journey through. He persuades the mission commander to let him go, meaning that they will be able to bring the launch date forward from seven years hence to four years. And so the thirty or so young children with Richard take off leaving our humble blue planet behind. 

And so as the months turn into years, we fast forward ten years into their eighty-six year journey and the cadets are now young adults. There is Christopher (Tye Sheridan), chief medical officer Sela (Lily-Rose Depp) and Zac (Fionn Whitehead) amongst others. The crew busy themselves by making repairs, growing their own food, keeping fit, and studying and they all appear to get along with one another in a state of peaceful harmony. Of course part of their daily routine is eating together in the mess hall, which includes sipping back a shot of 'blue' which they have been told is for their general health. In reality it is designed to suppress emotions, urges, jealousy and anger. Christopher and Zac begin to question what the blue is really for and what is contained therein. Some further digging reveals the truth, and so they decide to stop drinking it and convince some of the others to do likewise. 

Within a few days a sensory awakening occurs in each one which leads them to take risks including to wrestle in the gym, to touch a member of the opposite sex and to run down the narrow corridors of the ship (all of which were previously against the rules and strictly forbidden). Then one day there's a problem with the comms link which means that Richard has to venture outside the ship on a spacewalk to rectify the issue. He elects for Zac to go with him, but in preparing to suit up Zac starts coming onto Sela. Sela backs away none too pleased with Zac's advances just as Richard enters the airlock. A scuffle ensues and Zac flees into the ship. In his place Richard chooses Christopher to accompany him. While on their space walk tethered to the main body of the ship, with all the crew closely monitoring their every move, a black mass suddenly appears from nowhere, engulfs Richard and sends him reeling backwards into the dark void of space, albeit still tethered. Christopher pulls him in and once back inside the ship he is attended to quickly by Sela. He is badly burned to his hand, arm, neck and face and subsequently dies on the table. Zac claims that the black mass was an alien, and that Richard and/or Christopher possibly brought it onto the ship with them, inside their bodies.

With Richard no more, a new Chief Officer needs to be appointed. Zac puts his hand up straight away but Phoebe (Chante Adams) who is the one that can be relied upon as the straight-talking no nonsense voice of reason follows the rules and states that an election needs to be held. And so the crew all vote and Christopher is declared the winner and the new Chief Officer, much to Zac's surprise and consternation. And so the rebellious Zac starts to tell his ardent followers to ignore their designated duties and responsibilities and basically do as they please. At the same time he spreads increasing paranoia about the presence of the alien aboard the ship, which is only heightened from time to time when mysterious creaks, groans, rattles and unexplained sounds emanate around the ship. And, all the while he is undermining Christopher's attempts to exert his authority and instil a sense of order. When a fire breaks out on the ship all of the comms go down and the surveillance footage is destroyed. It's repairable, but will take time and every crew member is deployed round the clock to bring the ship back up to fully functioning order. 

Meanwhile, Christopher has retrieved the archived footage of the incident outside the ship that cost Richard his life. From it he learns that Zac and his offsider Kal (Archie Madekwe) sent a powerful electrical surge to Richard's suit, and this is what killed him and not some trumped up story about an alien. Christopher reveals this truth to the gathered crew in the mess hall and needless to say Christopher and Zac's relationship comes to a head when Zac announces that he is taking over the reins as the self appointed Chief Officer because Christopher has no clue. 

Zac encourages those that want to follow him can, and so all but five choose to go with Zac. What ensues is an all out race for supremacy with Zac gaining the upper hand at every turn it seems. He finds a stash of weapons concealed in a secret room that are meant for the third generation and so arms his followers to the teeth, while Christopher and Sela have nothing more than a scalpel with which to defend themselves. 

On the run now and fearful for their lives with very few places to hide, Christopher and Sela make the best of a bad situation while Zac is now mightily pissed off and baying for blood. The pair run down the corridors with Zac following closely behind, firmly bolting closed every door behind them, until they run out of doors and come to the airlock. Christopher and Sela suit up, secure themselves as best they are able, and open the airlock door, just as Zac on the other side blasts open the remaining door to the room. He is immediately sucked out but manages to cling on to Christopher as the two battle it out for the upper hand. Christopher who has the protection of a space suit loses his grip on Zac who is wearing nothing but a T-shirt and track pants and is fighting against the freezing temperatures of deep space. Christopher is sucked out and disappears from view. Sela meanwhile launches herself feet first directly at Zac who is caught off guard and is propelled into deep space never to be seen again. She clings on to the airlock door and steadies herself as Christopher comes back into view.

And so with Zac gone, his followers down their weapons and some sense of normalcy is restored. Sela is voted as the new Chief Officer and she seems to be more capable than the previous two. We then fast forward down through the years and see that Sela and Christopher give birth to a son, who grows up with a whole bunch of other youngsters on board. In time, the space ship is seen to be descending on to its destination planet with aged second generation crew and younger third generation crew peering out of the window as the Earth like planet below comes into view.  

With nods to 'Lord of the Flies' and 'Passengers' this nurture versus nature space romp in which the testosterone goes off the scale while the female crew are there seemingly only to provide eye candy, certainly looks the part, has some solid enough set pieces, and the Direction is deftly handled by film maker Burger. The YA Actors and the characters they portray are all largely one dimensional, aside from the three principle leads in Whitehead, Sheridan and Depp who prop up the rest of the cast and carry the film on their slender shoulders. This is predictable territory albeit reasonably well realised, it plods along for a goodly while without much really going on apart from a few cross words and a gnashing of teeth, and when the end comes there's nothing new to see here that we haven't seen countless times before.

'Voyagers' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 8th April 2021.

The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, honouring the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2020, were presented on 4th April at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was broadcast live airing for one hour rather than the usual two. The nominees were announced by Lily Collins and Daveed Diggs on 4th February. The shortened one-hour show was pre-recorded. The winners were informed of their wins a few days before the telecast and the acceptance speeches were also pre-taped. These changes were a COVID-era decision in order to protect the guild's nominees and presenters.

And so the winners, grinners and the also rans from this years SAG Awards in the motion picture category are as given below :-

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

* Presented posthumously to CHADWICK BOSEMAN for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', beating out Riz Ahmed for 'Sound of Metal', Anthony Hopkins for 'The Father', Gary Oldman for 'Mank' and Steven Yeun for 'Minari'.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

* Presented to VIOLA DAVIS for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', beating out Amy Adams for 'Hillbilly Elegy', Vanessa Kirby for 'Pieces of a Woman', Frances McDormand for 'Nomadland' and Carey Mulligan for 'Promising Young Woman'.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

* Presented to DANIEL KALUUYA for 'Judas and the Black Messiah', beating out Sacha Baron Cohen for 'The Trial of the Chicago 7', Chadwick Boseman for 'Da 5 Bloods', Jared Leto for 'The Little Things' and Leslie Odom Jnr. for 'One Night in Miami'.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

* Presented to YOUN YUH-JUNG for 'Minari', beating out Maria Bakalova for 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm', Glenn Close for 'Hillbilly Elegy', Olivia Colman for 'The Father' and Helena Zengel for 'News of the World'.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

* Presented to the Cast of 'THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7' - Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Alex Sharp, and Jeremy Strong, beating out 'Da 5 Bloods', 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', 'Minari' and 'One Night in Miami'. 

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

* Presented to 'WONDER WOMAN 1984', beating out 'Da 5 Bloods', 'Mulan', 'News of the World' and 'The Trial of the Chacago 7'.

For the complete list of this years SAG Awards winners and nominees, including those from the world of television, you can visit the official website at : https://www.sagawards.org 

And so turning attention to this weeks five latest release new films coming to an Odeon near you, we kick off with a Sci-Fi offering about a crew of astronauts who embark on a multi-generational mission to land on a distant habitable planet 86 years away that ultimately descends into paranoia and madness, not knowing what is real and what is not. Next up we have a young environmentalist who wakes, kidnapped and trapped in the elevator of a super high-rise building at the mercy of her tormentors. This is followed by a comedy action horror offering concerning a quiet drifter who is tricked into cleaning up an abandoned family entertainment centre haunted by eight murderous animatronic characters. Then there is a Chinese drama comedy film about a man who must attempt to clear his name after a theatre puts on a play that accuses him of committing a murder thirty years previously. And we close out the week with a French adventure comedy film about a teacher who embarks on a long journey with a donkey to find her secret lover in the countryside.

Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.

'VOYAGERS' (Rated MA15+) - is an American Sci-Fi drama Directed, Written and Co-Produced by Neil Burger whose prior film making credits take in 2002's 'Interview with the Assassin', 2006's 'The Illusionist', 2011's 'Limitless', 2014's 'Divergent' and 2017's remake of the acclaimed French film 'The Intouchables' with 'The Upside'. Originally slated for a release at the end of November 2020, the film was pulled from the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is released this week.

With the future of the human race in danger, a group of young men and women, born and bred for enhanced intelligence and to suppress emotional impulses, embark on an expedition to colonise a distant planet that will take eighty-six years to reach. But when they uncover disturbing secrets about the mission, they defy their training and begin to explore their most primitive impulses. As life on the ship descends into chaos, they're consumed by fear, lust, and the hunger for power not knowing if the real threat they face is what's outside the ship or who they're becoming inside it. Starring Colin Farrell, Fionn Whitehead, Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp and Isaac Hempstead Wright.

'ASCENDANT' (Rated MA15+) - here this mystery Sci-Fi drama is Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Anthony Furlong in his feature film debut and following from his last offering, the short film 'Emergence' in 2009. The film tells the story of young environmentalist Aria Wolf (Charlotte Best) who finds herself kidnapped and held hostage in a high-speed elevator in a 120-floor skyscraper in Shanghai. Aria holds a secret that makes her a valuable asset to many. However, she has no memory of her past, who her captors are or what they want from her. While being pushed to her physical and psychological limits, she begins to discover that what has been hidden within her for so long is what will ultimately be her salvation. Also starring Jonny Pasvolsky, Susan Prior, Andrew Jack and Lily Stewart.

'WILLY'S WONDERLAND' (Rated MA15+) - is an American action comedy horror offering Directed by Kevin Lewis in his first film making outing since 2007's 'The Third Nail' with Chloe Grace Moretz, Charles S. Dutton, John Savage and Sean Young. A quiet drifter, known only as the Janitor (Nicolas Cage), is tricked into a janitorial job at the now condemned Willy's Wonderland. He has one night to clean up the place, but the seemingly mundane tasks suddenly become an all-out fight for survival against wave after wave of eight demonic animatronic mascots, those being Willy Weasel, Arty Alligator, Cammy Chameleon, Ozzie Ostrich, Tito Turtle, Knighty Knight, Gus Gorilla, and Siren Sara and who are all revealed to be alive, aggressive and baying for blood. Fists fly, kicks land, titans clash and only one side will make it out alive. Also starring Emily Tosta, Beth Grant and Ric Reitz, the film has garnered generally positive Reviews and has so far grossed US$420K off the back of a US$5M production budget since its release in the US in mid-February.

'THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER' (Rated M) - this Chinese comedy drama film is Directed and also stars Chen Jianbin. Here a homicide case from thirty years ago was adapted into a stage play by the municipal theatre troupe. As the person involved in the murder, the renewed attention on the case disrupts Ma Fuli's (Chen Jianbin) life. Ma Fuli is pulled in all directions while trying to sort things out with stage play Director Hu Kunding (Da Peng), looking for a lawyer to clear his name and attempting to reconcile the tense relationship between his wife Jin Cailing (Zhou Xun) and daughter Jin Duoduo (Leah Dou). 

'ANTOINETTE IN THE CEVENNES' (Rated M) - this French adventure romantic comedy is Directed by Caroline Vignal in only her second film making offering since 'Girlfriends' in 2000, although she has written two made for television movies in the meantime. This film is based on the 1879 book 'Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes' by Robert Louis Stevenson. Antoinette Lapouge (Laure Calamy), a school teacher, is looking forward to her long planned summer holidays with her secret lover Vladimir Loubier (Benjamin Lavernhe), the father of one of her pupils. When learning that Vladimir cannot come because his wife Eleonore (Olivia Cote) organised a surprise trekking holiday in the Cevennes National Park with their daughter and a donkey to carry their load, Antoinette decides to follow their track, by herself, with Patrick, a protective donkey. Laure Calamy won the Cesar Award for Best Actress recently and the film took out another seven nominations. The film was released in France in mid-September last year and has so far grossed US$6.5M, and has garnered generally positive Reviews. 

With five new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the coming week, at your local Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-