Is this the worst Film of a great Director?
Is this the one that finally burned him out on making Films (save one proper) ever since?
This is Ghosts of Mars, his 2001 feature film.
This one is not remembered or treated well by many people. I get why.
Do I agree though?
The Plot involves corrupted Martian Colonists creating chaos for the Cops. Can our Heroes stop them?
Will the Film's structure give much of this away?
Notable Cast includes Ice Cube, Pam Grier, Jason Statham, Natasha Henstridge and Carpenter mainstay Peter Jason in a small role.
Is this terrible or misunderstood? To find out, read on...
Mars.
In the future, it is partially colonized.
What danger lies under the surface though?
The Film was originally going to happen in chronological order, but then Carpenter got the idea to play with that.
As such, Henstridge is found alone on a train and questioned about what happened...
She's sent with a Squad- including Statham and Grier- to a Colony that is not answering any communication.
While they seek answers, Statham is just going to constantly hit on her.
They find the place empty...at first.
More exploration reveals lots of dead bodies staged inside buildings.
What happened?
It all relates to this guy- who looks like Marilyn Manson crossed with Glenn Zandig.
Statham relays a story of the Colonists awakening as violent, crazy people. They mutilate their own bodies and kill those who didn't turn.
And yes, this was her saying what Statham told her that THESE GUYS told him.
The real reason that they are at the Colony is to pick up Ice Cube, who is wanted for a bunch of murders.
He claims innocence, but his brother trying to break him out of holding does hurt his cause.
Further confusing the narrative, Henstridge eventually talks to the lady who was in charge of Security (who threw herself into Holding for safety).
She tells her about how they had recently dug into a Mountain and released a crazy cloud of gas.
Apparently, this is the ghost of dead Martians striking back!
Our Heroes can't just get away- they have to destroy all of the possessed Colonists.
The solution- blow up the Nuclear Reactor and get away to safety!
Everyone save for Cube and Henstridge is killed off and the Panel isn't sure if they believe her, especially since Cube vanished.
As she recovers later, Ice Cube returns and breaks the 4th Wall to set up a Sequel that never happened.
The End.
A Film that is perhaps a bit misunderstood. Does that make it great? No.
The Film was designed to be a tongue-in-cheek Action Film. As Carpenter said, 'It is called Ghosts of Mars- who is taking this seriously?!?'
That's fair.
I will say that the Film does feel a bit like a pastiche of Carpenter's other Movie Ideas. Some say it was meant as an 'Escape from LA Sequel' (it wasn't) and some say that it is a Remake of
Assault of Precinct 13 (it's not-
I already covered that).
The problem here is that I don't think it gets crazy enough for this to be Satire. Big Trouble in Little China- that one nails the tone and execution!
A big issue is that Natasha Henstridge (who was a last-minute replacement) doesn't pull of the same vibe. She doesn't emote enough to be serious or silly.
Ice Cube is kind of the same thing. He's pretty much too 'chill' for this Film.
Films can go for a silly, over-the-top action vibe and really nail it. This one is, to use a baseball analogy, a double and not a home run.
It's not so bad that I'll have nightmares though.
Next up, let me jump to something quite a bit different. With all of the Superhero Films coming out soon, let's jump back to one that failed to start a Franchise in the 2010s. Stay tuned...
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