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Anthony Comeau

Mar 22, 20226 min read

Doc Reviews "2036 Origin Unknown

So last night I was over at Ken's house and we decided to watch a film for this review. We used Ken's Google Box that creates its own menu of content across all available channels and stumbled onto a Katee Sackhoff Science Fiction film and decided it would be a safe bet for an interesting film and the trailer was intriguing. That movie was 2018's 2036 Origin Unknown.

Authored by Doc Comeau on Tuesday, March 22th, 2021 at 5:50 PM EST

Film Synopsis

2036 Origin Unknown is the story of Mackenzie 'Mack' Wilson , a Mars Mission Controller for the United States Planetary Corporation leading a second attempt to land a rover on Mars to search for her dad and survey the planet alongside an artificial Intelligence named A.R.T.I. Together the two of them successfully land a remote drone controlled by A.R.T.I. and quickly discover and object of Unkown Origin on the Surface of Mars and are tasked with determining it's origin. A discovery with a deep philosphical twist that you will not see coming.

Film Credits

2036 Origin Unknown was directed by Hasraf 'HaZ' Dulull, a director I have not heard about personally and is only credited for 2036 Origin Unknown, The Beyond and a Disney Project called Descendants (IMDb). He is also credited for being a 'pioneer by Epic Games" for the use of the Unreal Engine in animated films. (IMDb). IMDb says he began in "visual effects" before switching focus on "directing and producing" his own productions.

Legendary Science FIction Actress Katee Sackhoff stars in the film as USPC Mars Mission Controller Mackenzie 'Mack' Wilson. A woman determined to succeed where her father failed and successfully land a rover on Mars to attempt to learn the fate of her father who was lost during the previous mission. A woman that will discover more than she than she expected.

Ray Fearon joins Sackhoff as Sterling Brooks, a former colleague of Mack's turned government suit. Brooks is a man trying to get the government and the people of the United States answers on what happened to the manned mission on Mars and why astronauts lost their lives. A man who ultimately helps Wilson complete her mission and get answers to questions she did not ask.

Julie Cox aslo joins Sackhoff as Lena Wilson Mack's Older sister and head executive of the United States Planetary Corporation. A woman hell bent on removing human's from space exploration and seeding the experience entirely over to artificial intelligence. A goal that is at odds with both Mack and the ethos taught by their father who was lost in space.

Rotten Tomatoes Scores

This was perhaps the most hilarious Rotten Tomatoes Scores I have ever seen in a movie and is a testament to how truly awful this movie was. The Critic Score is nonexistent as only "4" bothered to "review" it so there is no consensus and the Audience Score is a measly "35%" out of "250+ reviews." This Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller is definitely certified Rotten with these stats.

CRITICS CONSENSUS: NON-EXISTENT

My Rating

Alright, as per usual, I will be avoiding spoilers by giving you my final rating now before breaking down each of the three sections that make up the bulk of this review. This movie had an intriguing concept, but the pacing nearly puts me to sleep and failed to keep my attention. I forced to give this movie a 4 out of 10. This movie was a dumpster fire and I would avoid it at all costs. You cannot unsee what has been seen nor take your wasted time back.

I forced to give this movie a 4 out of 10. This movie was a dumpster fire and I would avoid it at all costs. You cannot unsee what has been seen nor take your wasted time back. - Doc Comeau

Story and Screenplay

This is probably the worst aspect of this film. The story did a bad job foreshadowing its big twist and the twist was a good philosophical statement over the common theory that humanity is trapped in a simulation controlled by some unknown computer. The theory that gave birth the NPC meme we all enjoy. The spent too much time in the simulation investigating the object of unknown origin and not enough setting up the big twist.

Let's get into the twists and yes, you read that right. I said twists. There were two twists in this movie. The one they foreshadowed excellently that I called early on with A.R.T.I. going all terminators and exterminating the entire human race. Then there is the philosophical one that would have been excellent had the questions it poses are addressed throughout the film. Though the pacing and dialogue was putting me to sleep.

The movie had way too much dialogue and not enough cinematography. It was such a breakfast I couldn't even write it out like I normally do. I can't remember enough of the scenes to adequately achieve that. I would of liked the see more about Mars and the object with less of an office in a sub basement of some top secret facility. I was forced to give this section of the film a 3 out 10. It attempted to be more than it was and was less than it should have been.

I was forced to give this section of the film a 3 out 10. It attempted to be more than it was and was less than it should have been. - Doc Comeau

Performance and Dialogue

So this was most definitely the best part of this film at least that is in reference to the performance rather than the dialogue. All three actors as well as the people behind the voice of A.R.T.I. gave this pile of garbage more than it deserved, but Julie Cox barely made an appearance and when she did it was on a computer screen only and Ray Fearon was exactly who you initially thought he was despite developing his character to be the exact opposite.

There are no singular lines of dialogue that stick out and achieve memorable status aside from A.R.T.I. constantly asking Sackhoff's character if they were friends throughout the film before ultimately exterminating the entire planet and suffocating her in a cement office in a sub basement of a faciltiy nobody knows about even if there were survivors. This is sad to me because some of the shittiest movies in existence have some dialogue or sequences that stands out while this movie vanishes from your mind before you even finish watching it. It's that or I am just too retarded to understand the nuance of its philosophical question that felt tacked on rather than the essential arc of the film.

Despite the actors trying to carry this shitty scrip with more professionalism than it deserved this section of the film still fails to inspire or keep my attention. I was forced to give this section a 4 out 10. It is truly a two, but the actors elevate it with their presence.

I was forced to give this section a 4 out 10. It is truly a two, but the actors elevate it with their presence. - Doc Comeau

Cinematography

This part of the film was almost as bad the film's story. It took place in one room with very little room for variations in shot choice and scene transitions though it does utilize the these limited choices well. It completely fails to show Mars outside of cheesy computer screens so badly even the scenes of MArs outside of the basement were just full screen images of the drone's recording.

I am not sure if this was because of budget issues or design choices, but it took away from the main pieces of the movie that related to the film's title. The Giant Cube of unknown origin found on the surface of the red planet and like the story which I failed to mention in that section the cinematography fail to pay off the opening where we saw a group lost in some type of energy storm attempting land.

Looking back on it as I write this section I don't really have any scene transition or shot that stood out or felt unique. It was barely an averagely made film. I forced to give this section the same score as the story. It is a 3 out 10. A movie trying to be more than it is, failing every step of the way and never pays off all set up plot points to establish a twist that was never set up during the film.

It is a 3 out 10. A movie trying to be more than it is, failing every step of the way and never pays off all set up plot points to establish a twist that was never set up during the film. - Doc Comeau

Conclusion

There is not much here to say in conclusion. 2036 Origin Unknown was a complete and utter dumpster fire and should be avoided by every series Science Fiction fan, but supported by anyone that are huge fans of the actors who gave it more than it deserved. I would not recommend anyone watch this movie as I have already stated it nearly put me to sleep as did writing this review trying to remember this awful film.