John
Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars Review:
For centuries the planet Mars has been a mystery for the human
race. Some civilizations have worshiped it, while others have
feared it. It has been said that The Romans were so inspired
by Mars that they named their god of War after the planet,
as they associated it’s red color with anger and power.
As society enters the 21st century, Mars is still a relative
mystery to us. While there has been more learned about the
planet in the last 40 years than in all of human history,
much of the planet still remains a mystery.
As such, Science Fiction writers have long portrayed Mars
as a planet where hidden Martians plot to unleash their fury
on the human race while laying waste to all they encounter.
While such popular sentiments regarding Mars was displayed
in such films as “War of the World”, Mars Attacks”
and the infamous “Mars Needs Women” other tales
such as “the Martian Chronicles” painted a kinder
face of Mars and the beings that dwelled on the red planet.
While scientists debate the issues if there is or has ever
existed life on Mars, one thing is certain. Humanity will
eventually visit the red planet and colonize it as we go forth
into the galaxy.
It is against this setting that veteran writer/director John
Carpenter gives viewers his latest offering “Ghosts of
Mars” Carpenter rose to prominence with such classics
as “Halloween”, “The Fog”, “Escape
from New York”, and “The Thing” which quickly
established Carpenter as a master of modern horror. The late
80’s-the 90’s were not kind to Carpenter as many
of his films such as “The Prince of Darkness”, “Children
of the Damned”, “They Live” and “Escape
from LA” failed to reach a wide audience and many fans
thought that Carpenter had lost his touch. The director seemed
to rebound a few years later with “Vampires” as
the film became a hit with fans and critics alike Carpenter
announced to the media that he was setting his next film on
Mars and would blend horror and Science fiction in a new and
terrifying way. “Ghost of Mars” is set in 2176 AD
where Mars has long been colonized and is 84% terraformed
to an Earth atmosphere. The film opens with a deposition by
Lt. Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), as she tells a review
board of her recent prisoner transport assignment to Shining
Canyon to pick up the notorious criminal James Desolation
Williams(Ice Cube). The story is told in flashbacks from Ballard
and other characters and Carpenter changes the films direction
often as he backtracks to illustrate the story from the points
of view of other characters so the audience can see what they
were doing during the time the action was elsewhere. Ballard
is second in command of a police force of 5 under the command
of Captain Braddock (Pam Grier) as they set out to bring the
deadly Williams in for trial. Along for the trip are two rookie
officers Kincaid (Clea Duvall), and Descanso (Liam Waite).
Rounding out the group is the new Sergeant Jericho (Jason
Statham), who seems more eager to get a crack at Ballard then
he does on any aspects of the mission.
No sooner does the group arrive at their destination then
they are met with a deserted town. After a few moments of
searching, it is discovered that there are very few people
left alive, but many dead and decapitated bodies indicate
that something has gone very wrong. Those remaining alive
aside from Williams and a few prisoners are acting very odd
and seem to have developed a fascination with self-mutilation.
It is at this point that the film loses focus as a promising
setup is lost. The characters seem to wander from setting
to setting with no real plan of action. It is learned that
the colonists have been possessed by an alien lifeform, and
that killing the host does not kill the lifeform. Furthermore,
a large group of the possessed colonists is massing for an
assault on the survivors and the police force. While this
should be a setting of tension and horror, it plays as little
more than large groups of extras standing around as loud rock
music plays in the background. The characters with the exception
of Ballard and Williams are very bland and underdeveloped.
The characters of Ballard and Williams do have some development
but issues ranging from Ballard’s use of drugs to Williams
past are left unresolved though they are hinted at during
the film. The dialogue in the film has some real groaners
such as “when we blow up the nuclear reactor, will it
make a big explosion”? The action scenes in the film
are also uninspired as with a few exceptions; they are mostly
hordes of extras being gunned down in mass as loud music blares.
“Ghosts of Mars” could have been a good horror film
as the cast and premise held much promise. Sadly the film
offers nothing new and is just another example of a good premise
wasted.
