Supernova Review
by Eugene Novikov (lordeugene_98 AT yahoo DOT com)January 27th, 2000
Supernova (2000)
Reviewed by Eugene Novikov
http://www.ultimate-movie.com
Member: Online Film Critics Society
Starring James Spader, Angela Bassett, Peter Facinelli. Directed by Walter Hill (pseudonyms be damned). Rated PG-13.
Isn't it the ultimate sign of a movie's cinematic ineptitude when you can't think of much to say about it other than "it sucks"? One of the first official year 2000 releases, Supernova is such a movie. I can't seem to get past one-word adjectives with this one,
although "boring," "stupid" and "absurd" doesn't amount to much of a review. A shame. I would have been able to save myself the chore of desperately trying to elaborate. But c'est la vie. Here goes nothing. I'll keep it short.
I suppose the first bad omen for Supernova came when director Walter Hill (48 Hours) removed his name from the movie, requesting that it be replaced with the pseudonym Thomas Lee. The film's fate was sealed in many minds when struggling studio MGM declined to screen it for the press, an event usually signifying a studio's lack of confidence in a particular movie. Hill's and MGM's actions were prudent.
When the captain of medical space vessel Nightingale dies in a tragic hyperjump accident, a reformed drug addict who is also the first officer, for some reason (James Spader) is forced to take command. The ship picks up a distress call from a nearby planet and, on arrival, picks up one survivor from an apparent accident in an abandoned mining colony. One of the crew members (Angela Bassett) knows this passenger, who is played by Peter Facinelli, and has some bad feelings about it -- and we all know what that means.
This intergalactic hitchhiker is carrying some mysterious cargo -- a jellylike substance the purpose of which is unknown, though it seems to bring some form of pleasure to whoever touches it. Another one of the crew members experiences this first hand; after spending a few minutes partially inside this glob of goo, he does some impressive handstand pushups. Evidently, touching this enigmatic egg-shaped thingie makes you younger and stronger. How? Why? The movie never bothers to explain.
Soon enough though, Spader and Bassett are running around the ship like mad, being chased by the all-of-a-sudden-superhuman Facinelli. To be honest, I don't even remember exactly why. I just remember that I didn't care. Supernova's plot suggested some more or less interesting ideas, such as the ball of goo being an intergalactic time bomb, but they are all dropped before they have a chance to develop into anything truly intriguing. In fact, everything is dropped just so the actors can have some fun running around what looks like an elaborate set.
Well, the effects are good, though there's hardly a studio movie with bad special effects these days so I'm not sure whether that's so remarkable an accomplishment. The performances are hardly worth talking about. I'm not even sure I can call what's here "performances," though Angela Bassett sure is good at giving people the finger. James Spader is not a bad actor, but he proves to be one of the blandest action stars I've seen in a while, mostly because he isn't given a character with a personality. The action scenes are just as bland, since they're pretty much just rehashes of action elements that weren't particularly entertaining the first time around. And since the action scenes are everything to this movie, it's pretty much dead in the water.
And for the life of me, I can't figure out why it's called Supernova.
Grade: D+
©2000 Eugene Novikov
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