In the opening scene ofMars Express, the fantastic feature debut from directorJérémie Périnthat he co-wrote withLaurent Sarfati,it becomes immediately clear that this film isn’t messing around. A door is answered, a neck is brutally broken, and a robot is gunned down. We don’t know why any of this is happening, but we’ll spend the rest of the gorgeously animatedscience fictionnoirpiecing together why. As it turns out, however, the answers to the central mystery are less important than the broader questions it is reflecting on about technology, artificial intelligence, and life itself. There are shades of classic works likeBlade Runner,RoboCop, andTerminatorthat are then crossed with the same sensibility that made the spectacular recent seriesScavengers Reignsuch a magnificent experience. In fact, the gorgeous opening credits capture that same feeling of quiet awe. At the same time, this is similarly undercut by just the right amount of dread over what is to come.
While it has plenty of reference points, they’re all just one small part of the picture Périn is painting. He has created a world that is darkly funny at times, with some great jokes about the mundanity of day-to-day life that has endured even with technological advancement, that increasingly becomes more transcendent the longer you take it in. It might be overstating things a bit to call the film this generation’sGhost in the Shell, but the comparison still becomes an increasingly fitting one, especially when you get to its more evocative ending. There are parts of it that can be more humdrum in the investigation and shallow in its initial characterizations, though it ultimately transcends any limitations in stunning fashion. When you arrive at its destination, it brings all the background elements of the journey into focus. It achieves its vision and then some,capturing the mind just as it does the soul.
Mars Express
In a thrilling science fiction adventure, a team of astronauts embarks on a high-stakes mission to Mars aboard the newly developed spacecraft, Mars Express. As they encounter unexpected challenges and hostile environments, the crew must work together to overcome obstacles and secure humanity’s future on the Red Planet.
What Is ‘Mars Express’ About?
Unknowingly getting caught up in all this is private detective Aline Ruby, voiced byMorla Gorrondonain the English version andLéa Druckerin the original French one, who spends her days taking jobs doing everything from hunting down hackers to finding missing people. Alongside her android partner Carlos Rivera, voiced byJosh Keatonin English andDaniel Njo Lobéin French, we see them chasing down one such target in a solid introductory action sequence that starts tolay the film’s thematic foundation. There are protests against androids happening in the background of the mission as the duo dance their way through a pursuit.
They’re successful but, when they travel back to their home of Mars, they realize that there is no triumphant welcoming party for them. Instead,both go back to lives that are grounded in everyday struggles. Aline is a recovering alcoholic who has recently been doing everything she can to remain sober and Carlos is trying to reconnect with his family despite being estranged from them when he was alive due to his actions. They then get a new job to figure out what happened to a missing college student who was present during the opening murder sequence. Though she managed to hide and escape, now there are dark forces all looking to find her first. Both Aline and Carlos, carrying their respective baggage, will then end up discovering more lurking under the surface of this world that could change everything.
All of this is initially standard noir stuff that is given greater flair via its genre elements and the fact that it is set in 2200. What kicks it up a notch is not just the animation that gives vibrant life to expertly tense, thrilling action sequences, but the more emotional thematic core. Even in a futuristic world on another planet with vast creatures floating in vats that feel like they popped in fromDavid Lynch’sDuneand robots that take over most jobs from doctors to sex workers, there are universal anxieties that endure. These are personal, surrounding loneliness and connection, just as they are structural, with corruption and inequality everywhere, that all must contend with.There is a refreshing frankness to the wayMars Expressestablishes this, building out its world without over-explaining things. The characters know the stakes, ensuring everything flows naturally as they make their way through each new situation.
‘Mars Express’ Is a Stellar Work of Science Fiction
When death comes, it happens quickly and leaves characters reeling, struggling to cope with the trauma they’ve witnessed. None of them, even Carlos, are invulnerable superheroes who can just take unlimited punishment and not be impacted by it. They get hurt, physically and psychologically, though they must continue just as we all must. The friendship between Carlos and Aline is similarly authentic in its sadness. They are coworkers, yes, but when everything begins to fall apart, they come to realize they are the only friends either of them have. A delicate moment near the end where they share a laugh before taking on what may be their last mission together speaks volumes without either saying much of anything at all. When we then make the final leap into the stratosphere,it’s this emotional grounding that ensures you feel the impact as it takes flight.
When everything then starts coming undone, Carlos and Aline remain in lockstep with each other,making clear all the boundaries between them as robot versus human were largely unimportantwith greater nuance thanother recent sci-fi that has similarly tried to do so. Even a small humorous moment where a man holding a weapon shouts out to ask if they’re human or robot before attempting to shoot at them is revealing. When this then sprints ahead at full speed into a climactic action sequence, it’s a properly exciting and inventively animated battle. One moment when Carlos shoots into the sky is spectacular as you realize what it is that he is doing. However, just as it reaches these thrilling heights, it is when everything comes crashing back down that the film achieves something that is sublime and saddening.
Without giving away anything, the ending of the film is a series of gut punches both painful and poetic that all strike home. While it may seem slightly disconnected from much of what preceded it, that’s precisely the point. Just as our duo were looking into the particulars of the case in front of them and possibly hoping for straightforward answers, life is not so simple. In the end, more than the arresting action or the unfolding of the mystery,Mars Expressfinds deeper truths that are as tragic as they are transcendent. This makes it a sci-fi tapestry not just worth getting lost in, but one that is deeply human as well. What a painful joy it is.
Mars Express is a beautifully animated sci-fi vision with a stellar ending that finds more transcendent truths.
Mars Expresscomes to theaters in the U.S. starting May 3. Click below for showtimes near you.
