The Space Between Us – Unpopped Review
What do you get when you mix an interesting sci-fi concept with a young adult romance novel? You’d think you’d get a decent movie, but you’d be wrong. You get the crap that is The Space Between Us.
Synopsis:
The first human born on Mars travels to Earth for the first time in search for his father. This allows him to discover the wonders of Earth with fresh eyes. The only problem is that his time on Mars has made his body unable to deal with Earth’s environment.
Good:
This was really hard. I had to think for a long time to come up with anything good to say. What I decided that I liked was the concept that a human born on Mars would have a different physiology, and living on Earth would be near impossible. That was pretty interesting. Unfortunately, that’s about it.
Ehh:
Gary Oldman. I love Gary Oldman; he is by far one of the best actors working today. Unfortunately, he was hindered by the script. So while I felt he did fine in his role, there just wasn’t an1ything he could have done to save it.
Ugh-ly:
And speaking of the script, I don’t think anyone in this movie actually spoke or acted like a human being. There are moments that were meant to be heartfelt but just ended up being painful or without weight. There’s a scene in a hospital that is supposed to be touching but it is completely negated 30 seconds later. There’s another scene on the beach that doesn’t make any sense. In fact, the whole movie didn’t really mean anything.
Even the timeline made no sense. Everything that happens is seemingly supposed to take place within about 9 months. But when you add in all the space travel, medical procedures, and waiting it just doesn’t fit together.
Now let’s talk about the lack of technology. This was the most annoying thing to me. The majority of The Space Between Us takes place in the year 2034. Besides a base on Mars, the only advancement in technology was a slight upgrade in phones and one self-driving car. It looks more like 2018 than 2034. And when you have a movie taking place 20 years in the future, you really need to come up with more than that.
The romance. So… I almost put this in the “ehh” section simply because it was so laughable. My wife and I kept look at each other and couldn’t stop laughing. It was so bad; I mean really bad. It was the most awkward love scene in any movie, including the scene with two puppets from Team America: World Police.
And lastly let’s talk about Asa Butterfield. Are we sure he’s a good actor? He started with movies like The Boy in The Striped Pajamas, Nanny McPhee, and Hugo. But then he was in Ender’s Game which was fine, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children which I didn’t like, but got a decent critical reception, and now this which is on my list for worst of the year. He was in the running for Spider-Man, but I’m so glad that fell through because it could have been pretty bad. I just don’t think he’s as good as people hoped he would be. Maybe he just needs a good movie and director that can mold him and guide him because it’s not looking good.
Recommendation:
There is no doubt that The Space Between Us is one of the worst movies of the year. I wish I could say it was just boring, but that would be a compliment. No, it wasn’t boring, it was stupid and a complete waste of my time. I know the trailers made it look interesting. They definitely fooled me, but please don’t spend your money to see this in theaters. So please DON’T BOTHER!
So that what I thought of The Space Between Us, what did you think? And what’s your favorite movie based on Mars? Mine is definitely Rocket Man. Leave your comments below, and remember to keep it unpopped.
