'Europa Report' review: intelligent sci-fi

Karolina Wydra and Christian Camargo are two of six astronauts on a voyage to one of Jupiter's moons to confirm there's liquid water below the icy surface. Karolina Wydra and Christian Camargo are two of six astronauts on a voyage to one of Jupiter's moons to confirm there's liquid water below the icy surface. Photo: Magnet Releasing Photo: Magnet Releasing Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 'Europa Report' review: intelligent sci-fi 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Europa Report

Science fiction thriller. Directed by Sebastián Cordero. With Anamaria Marinca, Daniel Wu, Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist, Christian Camargo, Karolina Wydra, Embeth Davidtz. (Rated PG-13. 90 minutes.)

Low key and earnest, Sebastián Cordero's "Europa Report" makes compelling use of familiar genre material to create an intelligent science fiction thriller. Yes, it employs the found-footage technique, but with unusual finesse.

We're informed up front that the mission we're seeing - a voyage to one of Jupiter's moons to confirm the presence of liquid water beneath the icy surface - ended catastrophically. How it went wrong is told using footage purportedly taken from the spacecraft's cameras, edited and narrated by the ground commander (Embeth Davidtz).

The six astronauts are the usual internationally diverse group, and if they aren't all fully fleshed out, at least they aren't the usual pack of jokers - they are genuinely dedicated to their scientific work and seriously believe their findings could have, well, cosmic implications.

What happens on the voyage, after the ship suddenly loses contact with Earth, is a combination of technical problems and human error, and it's not spoiling anything to divulge that not all the crew will survive.

Once they touch down on Europa, strange things begin happening outside. An intrepid crew member will, of course, need to leave the ship to investigate.

Director Cordero manages the not-bad trick of generating suspense while keeping the overall tone cool and collected. However, he allows one significant shot toward the end that seriously disappoints. The filmmaker tips his hat to "2001: A Space Odyssey" - which depicted a voyage to the same neck of the solar system - with some visual nods and a few seconds of "The Blue Danube" waltz.

Led by Daniel Wu as the mission commander and Anamaria Marinca as the pilot, the capable cast includes Karolina Wydra, Michael Nyqvist and Christian Camargo. "District 9's" Sharlto Copley plays the most personable crew member and gets the movie's most touching scene.