Supernova Review
by "Shay Casey" (gumbyshay AT hotmail DOT com)February 10th, 2000
*1/2 out of ****
Year: 2000
Starring Angela Bassett, James Spader, Peter Facinelli, Lou Diamond Phillips, Robin Tunney, Wilson Cruz, Robert Forster
Written by William Malone and Daniel Chuba (story) and David Campbell Wilson (screenplay)
Directed by Walter Hill (credited as Thomas Lee)
Rated R
If I were one of those arrogant critics who thinks his review has some great impact on the success or failure of certain films, I might say that I review movies that don't look particularly good because I'm doing a service to my readers by warning them against seeing it. If that were true, I could put a banner at the top of my site that reads: "Shay Casey: Seeing Bad Movies So You Don't Have To." But I know that's bunk-you're going to see whatever movies you want to no matter what I say. So I have to tell the truth: every once in a while I get a nasty, masochistic urge to see a bad movie. You know the feeling, when you're sick of seeing all these damn Academy Award contenders and you want to see something you can have a ball trashing mercilessly. Sometimes I think that's why anyone goes to see Pauly Shore movies, ever. Admit it: sometimes you like seeing bad movies. So do I.
So I saw "Supernova."
Truth be told, "Supernova" wasn't quite as bad as I thought it might be. Maybe I just felt sorry for the actors, or maybe I thought it could have been decent if the studio hadn't started tinkering with the director's (Walter Hill) final cut, causing him to want his name removed. Maybe I'm becoming a softy. In any case, I didn't find "Supernova" as bad as the advance buzz would have me believe. But it's still bad.
The film takes place aboard the medical space vessel "Nightingale." The crew includes Captain A.J. Marley (Robert Forster), his new second officer Nick Vanzant (James Spader), head medical officer Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett), medical technicians Yerzy Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips) and Danika Lund (Robin Tunney), and computer technician Benj Sotomejor (Wilson Cruz). There are some attempts at "characterization," but all that means is that Nick has a shady past involving a drug addiction, which puts Kaela on edge, Yerzy and Danika have a relationship that requires them to make kissy-faces at each other every five minutes, and Benj (apparently gay) is in love with the computer (apparently female). Don't expect any more explanation, because you won't get it. Anyway, the crew gets a distress call from a location deep in space to which a failed mining operation had been sent. During the dimension jump (I think that's what it's called, but don't hold me to it), the Captain is killed and the man who sent the distress signal (Peter Facinelli) is brought on board. He calls himself Troy Larson, making him the supposed son of a man Kaela once had a relationship with. Then a bunch of really predictable stuff starts happening.
Have you seen "Alien?" Have you seen "Event Horizon" (a lame movie in its own right)? Good. Then you've seen "Supernova." Post-production cuts or not, there is nothing original about this screenplay, and nothing unpredictable either. After all, no one's going to think for a second that Troy won't turn out to be a villain. But the bigger problem with "Supernova" is that it can' t just stick to the simple plot it's afforded. Numerous re-writes (the script may be credited to three people, but it's a gross underestimate) have crammed this lean 90-minute film with tons of extraneous plot threads that all remain underdeveloped. Was there something about a limping robot shaped like a fighter pilot? Did the ship's computer learn something about humanity? What was that glowing lava lamp artifact Troy brought on board with him? And just what does the film's title signify, if anything? As far as I can tell, it refers to a very small plot detail that isn't developed, just like the rest of these unnecessary story elements.
Character relationships in this film also make very little sense. For some reason, every person in this film keeps having sex. We get an unusually early sex scene between Phillips and Tunney within the first 10 minutes. Bassett and Spader's characters start off hating each other. Fifteen minutes and one bottle of pear brandy later, they're engaging in some hanky-panky. When Troy the creepy stranger shows up on the ship, of course both female crew members will fall in love with him. Every single shift in character interaction happens extremely suddenly, which is only one of the many obvious clues to how much this film has been cut. The most prominent example, however, may be the fact that when the film starts, there are no opening credits! Furthermore, the end of the film looks like they took what were originally intended to be the opening credits and spliced them in right before the real end credits. Maybe that's why the film's title is mentioned twice during the end credits, right between James Spader and Robert Forster. Right after you get over the shock of not being told what movie you're seeing (lest you decide to walk out upon making that discovery), you might notice that the movie seems to have dropped you right in the middle of a scene, with little-to-no introduction to any of the characters or situations. The rest of the movie feels like they skipped over the middle stuff in the character changes (you know, where they explain things) and just went from Point A to Point B. Point A: Danika is thoroughly enamored of Yerzy and is ready to have his baby. Point B: Tunney is now shagging Troy and Yerzy is unusually obsessed with the lava lamp thing. Doesn't make sense.
Since I didn't understand anything about these characters' motivations, did I care when Troy abruptly starts murdering them one-by-one (and he does, knocking off three of them in about 10 minutes)? Not a whit. It's a shame, because this cast contains a lot of talented actors looking for something to do. They don't find it. Bassett and Spader say every line in the same monotone voice with the same blank expressions on their faces. Sexual tension? More like constipation. Maybe they're just embarrassed at having to utter such howlers as "This thing was made by someone more powerful than God and a whole lot less nice." Not that we ever find out who that is, mind you. The climax of their relationship (taking place in a transport pod) is probably the film's biggest forehead-slapper. As Troy, Peter Facinelli inhabits the most obvious villain in history that no one ever suspected. He' s awfully one-note, but it's not as if he's given any more notes to work with. The rest of the cast does even less. Tunney stands around looking cute, then scared. Phillips broods. Cruz flirts with the computer. Then they all die and a star blows up or something, but I really wasn't paying much attention by then.
"Supernova" is pretty awful, but I'm cutting it a little slack merely because I expected less than what I got. That's it. If you expect it to be good (for whatever reasons you may have), you'll probably hate it more than I will. Even the special effects are fairly unimpressive, nothing you haven' t seen before, and suffice to say the script isn't going to save the film. Honestly, though, what do you expect from a film with about a dozen writers and a director who had his name removed and replaced with a pseudonym? It usually results in a bad movie, and that's what "Supernova" is.
-reviewed by Shay Casey
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