Supernova Review
by James Sanford (jamessanford AT earthlink DOT net)January 16th, 2000
SUPERNOVA (MGM)
Directed by "Thomas Lee"
If you've seen the TV commercials for "Supernova," you may have noticed the ads don't tell who's starring in the film, which may lead you to suspect it has a cast of unknowns. Surprise -- it actually features Angela Bassett, James Spader, Lou Diamond Phillips, Wilson Cruz ("My So-Called Life") and Robin Tunney ("End of Days").
So why hide these stars? Probably because "Supernova" is such a superbomb the actors wish they could take their names off of it. That's exactly what director Walter Hill has done. The movie now bears the credit "directed by Thomas Lee," even though Hill oversaw the shooting of this sci-fi adventure during the summer of 1998 (and fellow director Francis Ford Coppola reportedly had a hand in the film's extensive cutting and re-cutting throughout last year).
What Hill and Coppola have ultimately come up with is an incoherent, often ridiculous yarn which steals heavily from "Alien," "The Abyss" and "Sphere" but still yields pitiful results. Were it not for the marquee value of the talent involved, "Supernova" would likely have crashed and burned at the neighborhood video store instead of hitting the local cineplex. Perhaps the only remarkable thing about this foolishness is the amount of nudity (mostly male) the filmmakers managed to cram in while still earning only a PG-13 rating.
For the few who might still be intrigued, "Supernova" is set in the far future, aboard a kind of spaceship/ambulance called Nightingale (get it?). After the captain is fried in an accident, recovering drug addict Nick Van Zant (Spader) takes command of the ship and stakes a claim on no-nonsense doctor Kaela Evers (Bassett), who needs only a bottle of pear brandy to turn her disposition from stormy to
sugar-sweet.
Sex in the zero-gravity chamber has to be put on hold, though, when the Nightingale receives a distress call from a mining colony on gypsy moon Titan 37. Despite reservations, the crew agrees to take sole survivor Troy Larson (Peter Facinelli) aboard, along with the gooey-looking glowing object he's salvaged. That artifact turns out to house galaxy-destroying "ninth-dimensional matter" (which looks suspiciously like the contents of a lava lamp, by the way), and, given this set-up, you can probably finish the script yourself.
Anyone hoping Bassett might have a chance here to show off her panache as an action star as she did so memorably in "Strange Days" will be disappointed to learn she spends most of the movie either glowering or jogging through corridors. Spader seems to be looking for an exit, while most of the supporting cast struggle to hold on to their dignity. In a frantic attempt to build suspense where none exists, the filmmakers keep their cameras bobbing and weaving woozily over each scene. Perhaps the photography team sampled a bit of that pear brandy themselves. "It's a bomb!" Dr. Evers gasps when she first realizes the potential power of the alien force. Any audience member will agree whole-heartedly. James Sanford
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