STARRING:
Dennis Quaid as Lt.Payton
Ben Foster as Corporal Bower
Cam Gigandet as Gallo
Antje Traue as Nadia
Cung Le as Manh


The last remnants of a dying species, hungry mutants, and a psychosis that drives its victim to murderous insanity, Pandorum has all the properties of a terrifyingly great Sci Fi epic, but fails to deliver. The story is well structured but executed as if the director wanted it to be scary but not utterly terrifying. Pandorum is set in a future where overpopulation has forced humanity off of Earth and into space, traveling on sleeper ships, vessels where flight crews cryogenically rest in 2 year shifts while passengers rest the entire journey, heading to humanity's new home. But, and this is where the story really drops the interesting details for the next hour and a half, Earth inexplicably explodes, leaving the colonists the last humans.
Corporal Bower awakens to find himself alone in the crew area after awakening from hyper sleep, his preceding crew nowhere to be seen and due to the hyper sleep, only knows his history and remembers his wife's face. Soon another crewmate, Lt.Payton, awakens with amnesia. In an attempt to repower the ship, Bower encounters strange cannibalistic creatures that inhabit the ship, feeding on the old crews and awakening passengers. After being saved by Nadia, a biologist who cares for the vegetation in the ship, and Manh, an adept fighter who doesn't speak English, Bower further journeys into the ship, narrowly surviving the cannibals and fighting the effects of his amnesia.
Meanwhile, Payton stays in the hyper sleep area, guiding Bower through the ship while fighting the effects of Pandorum, a psychological affliction that leads to murderous actions brought on by prolonged hyper sleep. All this leads to a surprising twist at the end, but its too little too late.
The acting was alright, but it's sad that Dennis Quaid seems to not be able to find a good movie to work on recently. A highly publicized summer turkey like “GI Joe” cant hold a candle to the gothic and enchanting “The Horseman”. Hopefully, Quaid will pick a film that can showcase his true abilities and give him more screen time.
The creature effects were pretty awful. It was like “I am Legend” crossed with “Resident Evil”, except it was like they were filmed in stop motion. They aren't in the least bit terrifying, since your alerted to their arrival by the blue torch the leader carries around. It is scary in the beginning when you don't know what to expect, but eventually it starts to become a gag whenever these things come around and emulate a bad mix of zombie and alien.

Overall, if you're a shock-fi fan and are expecting to leave the lights on when you go to bed, save your money and go see something else. If you're a sci fi fan, this might be a good pick when it's a lazy Wednesday afternoon.