Ghosts Of Mars, John Carpenters last movie on the silver screen, features most of the elements that distinguishes the director's work. It's a Western...as usual disguised as a science fiction or horror movie. Substitute the landscapes of Mars for Monument Valley and the possessed 'Ghosts' of the title with Apache warriors and you've got a pretty basic Western set up. Then add to that the siege narrative of Howard Hawks classic, Rio Bravo, where your no-nonsense Law Marshall is forced to team up with the notorious criminal...and you've got yourself a bonefide John Carpenter movie. There's the usual Carpenter elements too; the downbeat ending, bad guy as anti-hero, minimalist score and scary things jumping unexpectedly in to the frame. On this occasion the director tries to subvert the usual set-up by corrupting his heroine somewhat (she takes drugs and isn't adverse to a 'last shag before dying') as well as making 'civilization' a matriarcal society...messing with the male bonding convention that most Westerns have.
Both leads, Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube, are bland and chemistry-free beyond words, especially when compared to Carpenter's Asualt on Precinct 13 where the superior Austin Stoker and Darwin Joston played the same roles. The supporting cast, including Jason Statham (wrestling with a crap mid-Atlantic accent), Clea Duvall, Pam Grier and Joanna Cassidy are much better.
It's been frequentely documented that Carpenter's talent has faded since his late '70's and early '80's peak...and that's obvious here. The direction is weak and the photography flat. There's a irritating editing technique where footage is repeated and overlaps which is completely unnecesary. The script is structured in a pointless flashback within a flashback structure that does nothing to add greater tension or character insight. The film does occasionally come alive when Carpenters talent re-emerges; the dialogiue is reduced, the primal, minimalist score is brought to the fore in the sound mix....and hey presto, the movie's atmospheric!
The action which dominates the last half hour has a non-realistic, bullshit quality that is enhanced bt the contribution by thrash band Anthrax to the score. Still, even if this is Carpenter light, it's still competantly made, is (mostly) fun to watch, and looks and feels like no other movie out there. The trademark downer ending also has the double whammy of seeing Henstridge in her undies and having Cube break the forth wall and look directly into camera. Now that is cool.
1 comment:
I haven't seen this since the cinema. I just remember coming out of it bitterly dissapointed and also rather embarrassed. Embarrassed that such a once great director as John Carpenter had turned in to a such a pale shadow of his former self. Producing a limp retread of much better films he's made before, themselves often based upon his usual favoured western mythology. Most of the Carpenter trademarks were still here. The anti-hero. The siege. Paranoia. Authoritarism vs individualism. A cynical tone. A downbeat ending. But it all felt flat and dull and - terrible for any Carpenter film - lacking atmosphere (I don't think the crap photography helped there). Also the cast are mostly rubbish. Henstridge is hot but wooden and Ice Cube has plenty of 'tude but no magnetism or real charisma to pull of the bad boy anti-hero role. The role that the likes of Kurt Russell in Escape form New York or Darwin Joston in Assault on Precinct 13 or even crazy James Woods in the far superior Vampires did so well.
Maybe if I watch this again I'll think more kindly of it. And I should try as I do love Carpenter. But I'm scared...and not in a good way.
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