On the surface, Mars Express is a detective story about a female detective and her robotic partner. We’ve seen a lot of those, but they were mostly terrible. Mars Express, on the other hand, is one of the greatest SciFi movies I’ve seen.
It is often compared to Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell. And while yes, those are the two big titles ME takes from - there is so much more here to marvel.
I don’t want to spoil the story, but let me tell you it’s great. This could have been another limited run TV series - but luckily, it is not. We’ve got 88 minutes of great SciFi detective work which has already gone to history as a modern classic. Enough said that it smart, makes sense and it’s worth to experience without spoilers.
However, the biggest problem with Mars Express is its older peers. This film takes from numerous other movies - not only the big 2, but also 2001, Akira, Armitage III, and even some Cronenberg. All of this works great - never have I felt that anything is a pointless reference1. The director and writer duo - Laurent Sarfati and Jérémie Périn - blend all those ideas perfectly, each borrowed thing is their own in the context of this film. But it also creates a lot of unexpected foreshadowing. Now, I did not expect the ending - the film had a chance to end 3 times before the credits rolled. There were moments where authors could call it a day and still have a great film. But the story continues, becoming better and better each time. As a whole, I left very much surprised. Yet, a lot of twist and turns came as “hey, I’ve seen that already”. Sometimes in better form, most often in worse. However, if you are the kind of person who tries to guess what’s going to happen2, you may leave unchallenged.
But you will still marvel at the animation. The French were always the champions of European animation, and this is another proof. Mars Express is breathtaking. It looks 2D, and even when the CGI rears its ugly face, it’s just for a brief moment. We’re seeing clear inspiration from Production IG, which is the best kind of inspiration. Anime no longer looks as good as it looked when Mamoru Oshii ruled the scene, and Mars Express fill a huge void in my heart.
Not only because the animation is spot on, but also because we rarely see such a vivid SciFi world. It’s often just a steel wall here and there, a bit massive computer, maybe. But Mars Express fills the world with believable nuances - the “Police” tape is holographic, the roads react in a cool way to accidents, and even the gadgets are cool. I could not smile wide enough to show how much I loved it. They could have just made the bare minimum (like it often is), but they went the extra mile. As it stands, Mars Express is one of the greatest SciFi worlds I can remember.
This is the film to see. I know there is another blockbuster in the cinema you may want to watch, but please - give Mars Express a chance. It’s not a modern film, it’s not an action film (even if the action is 10/10). It’s a smart story, like we used to experience 20 years ago. They don’t make movies like this very often, and we are lucky to have it.