‘Pandorica’ Review
Stars: Luke D’Silva, Jade Hobday, Marc Zammit, Adam Bond, Bentley Kalu, Amed Hashimi, Laura Marie Howard, Adam Ford, Macaulay Callard | Written and Directed by Tom Paton
I had no real expectations going into Pandorica and I came out of it very pleasantly surprised by Tom Paton’s genre busting futuristic dystopian, sci-fi horror, suspense, action-filled tale of what happens when humanity is devolved into its most basic instincts. Well I did say this film was genre busting! One of the best things about Pandorica is that you really can’t put it in any bracket (no matter how hard you try for the purpose a review).
Set somewhere in the future we meet a small group of Natives from the Varosha tribe. Tribe leader Nus (Luke D’Silva) has brought his three bravest and best to take part in a Violent trial to determine who should be leader of the Tribe when Nus expires. As is always the way, the three in question have very differing personalities. Eiren (Jade Hobday) is as deadly as she is determined and somewhat sexy (think Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil, Keira Knightley in King Arthur, or Rhona Mitra in Doomsday). She is up against the wreckless headstrong bad ass Ares (Marc Zammit) who believes he is the only man fit enough to lead, rounding off the trio is Thade (Adam Bond) a very loyal confidant to the tribe but its all a bit over his head. Once the trial begins everything really turns to shit as the three discover a strange woman being chased by band of vicious lunatics in creepy masks. They must band to together to stay alive, all the while trying to prove they are the best candidate for leader. The winner left standing at daybreak… Hopefully.
It is hard for me to believe that Pandorica is Tom Paton’s first full length feature film. He has a very clear idea of what he is doing with getting the best out of his strong leading cast; and the cinematography of this film is truly gorgeous, showing Paton is well aware of his own location surroundings and can direct his movie as such to show us this. Sometimes just the swooping shots over the top of the trees keep make you pause to admire. In terms of storytelling, he has taken a number of genres mashed them up and made a solid as hell flick, that not only stands on its own but also serves as what could potentially be a great intro to a new series of films. A franchise that, should he wish to continue, could possibly breathe new life into the much-maligned dystopian “end of the world” genre, in the same vein as Neil Marshall’s Doomsday.
I don’t want to keep raving on too much (but believe me I could) because audiences should really see Pandorica. It is available on all good streaming sites and video on demand services and I guarantee you will get a kick out of it, even if only for the fantastic soundtrack. I won’t lie, the music alone sucks you right in to the action! I really enjoyed the movie and can easily see a sequel happening. If you do enjoy the movie, I recommend you stick around till the end of the credits…
Oh also before I leave you all. Interesting side-note, Marc Zammit who plays Ares will be filming war movie Pegasus Bridge in 2017 – a movie we covered in our podcast with its director Lance Neilsen and one of his other leading cast members, Mike Beckingham, who is also set to star in Tom Paton’s new movie Redwood.
