GHOSTS OF MARS
Released: August 24, 2001
John Carpenter, returning to the big screen almost like clockwork, gives us a pretend sci-fi movie about letting an ancient Martian race out of hiding after they were locked under the surface of Mars for centuries. I say pretend because what we have hear is an elaborate set piece that LOOKS like a sci-fi adventure but is, in reality, a traditional slasher flick in the tradition of his very own "Halloween" (1978). Told in a series of flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks, "Ghosts Of Mars" is entertaining for sure but highly forgettable. And I'm a John Carpenter FAN! The story, which is essentially "let bad Martians out of hiding place, they attack, try to kill Martians before they kill us". Along for the ride are Canadian beauty Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham (from 2000's "Snatch"), Ice Cube, Clea Du Vall, Joanna Cassidy and Pam Grier (whom Quentin Tarantino gave a new lease on her career with 1997's "Jackie Brown"). Henstridge gives it her all and really can kick some major ass as she battles a bunch of Marilyn Manson on steroids while rotting type of aliens who are bent on killing the very people who released them from their long captivity. It's OK as a Carpenter movie, but overall it's best saved for a rental or avoided altogether...
98 Minutes
Screen Gems/Sony