2036 Origin Unknown (2018)

WARNING:  I’m going to discuss details that will probably spoil the ending.  If you’re not into that, you might want to hold off on reading this review.



It’s been said before that there are no new stories.  Every book or movie you might come by is simply a different version of some other story.  The settings and characters may change.  Usually, a writer is good enough to come up with enough new details to entertain the reader.  At the very least, one wants to avoid making it look like an obvious rehash of some earlier story.

Take 2036 Origin Unknown.  I wouldn’t be the first person to draw comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey.  You have a few human characters dealing with an AI that comes across as just a little suspicious.  There’s a mission to another planet.  The AI is given some control over the mission, which worries at least one of the humans at some point.  Oh, and the ending is really confusing.

The main human is this case is Mackenzie ‘Mack’ Wilson.  Her father was lost on a mission to Mars.  Now, she works at a secret location as part of a secret mission to explore Mars and maybe figure out what happened.  When I say part of, though, she’s working primarily with ARTI, an artificial intelligence that’s been given a great deal of control.  In fact, ARTI has replaced most of the humans.  (Aside from Mack, only a few guards seem to be present at the secret ground-control location.)

Instead of a monolith, Mack and ARTI find a strange cube on Mars.  It has writing on it, which ARTI could identify, except that access to the database of strange symbols has been restricted.  The monolith seems to be made of nanites and would seem to be of alien origin, except that it might be of human origin.  It can also teleport itself to Earth in an instant.

Much of the movie seems to want to make you think about things.  For instance, what role would AI have in our lives?  Would it be our servants or our equal?  How long before it would replace us?  This takes the form of some banter between Mack and ARTI.  (Mack points out that ARTI might have one the Nobel Prize, except that he’s not human.)

The movie started out with a good deal of promise only to look like something that was slapped together.  First off, the AI is called ARTI.  This isn’t something one of the characters calls the program offhandedly.  This is the actual name of the AI.  We see ARTI on a wall.  If you want lazy writing, there’s lazy writing.

Also, ARTI came up with some sort of hyperlink signal that allows for instant communication, regardless of distance.  ARTI is at a loss to explain how he did it, as his memory has been wiped.  Oh, and his origin is also hazy.  It would seem that ARTI programmed himself.  At least, that’s what I gather.  Are we to gather that he just came into existence?  Is he his own Alpha and the Omega or something like that?  (If you understand it, please leave a comment.)

Like 2001: A Space Odyssey, the movie left me with a few questions.  Where they differ is in the fact that I really wasn’t as motivated to think about them.  It would seem that the entire narrative takes place in a simulation.  (I knew that instant communication was too good to be true.)  The movie doesn’t say who is running the simulation, though.  Is it aliens?  Is it ARTI?  Did ARTI or aliens subdue humans?

This wasn’t even one of those movies where I things occurred to me hours or days after I watched it.  It sort of faded from memory.  I’d say that I could go back and pick up new things on a second viewing, but I think I got most of it the first time.  I think that the movie could have been so much better.

IMDb page

Project Kronos (2013)

Things aren’t always that simple.  I was just looking at a movie that was edited and redubbed from a Russian movie.  You also have movies, such as Frankenweenie, that have two versions by the same director.  When I was looking into The Beyond, I found that the director had also made this movie, which was similar.  Both movies are set up like documentaries.  The primary difference is that Project Kronos deals with humans looking for aliens whereas The Beyond has an unknown intelligence coming to us.

In Project Kronos, The Space Agency, Inc., wants to build a probe.  The problem is that the memory required would need a huge storage device.  The solution is to use a human brain, instead.  Gross?  Maybe.  Ethical?  Probably not.   It is an interesting idea and not without merit.  It’s pointed out that a human could deal with extraterrestrials better than an AI could.

It sort of reminds me of Prelude to Axanar in that it’s incomplete.  Both seem like they’re the first part of a documentary.  If you watch this before watching The Beyond, you might think that you got cut off or that you just watched the first of two parts.  In a way, the second part is The Beyond.  I think that it may have been a way of gauging audience reaction, not unlike a backdoor pilot.

If you can find the movie online, I’d say that Project Kronos is worth a shot.  It’s only 14 minutes.  It also looks like there’s another entry on IMDb called Project Kronos with the same writer/director.  This may be a full-length version.  I’m not sure, but it would be interesting to see how the two compare.

IMDb page

The Beyond (2017)

Many movies have some sort of reveal.  It serves as a way to resolve the tension.  With mystery, you find out who did it, usually in the final moments.  With horror, there may be a similar moment where you realize why the villain is so bad.  Even with a drama, there’s some sort of resolution.  Maybe the protagonist gets what they were after.  Such things are easy to define.

Not so much with The Beyond.  There is a well-defined threat: A wormhole appears not to far from Earth.  It’s like the roach trap, where probes check in, but they don’t check out.  They stop transmitting shortly after they cross the threshold, providing very little information.  Cue the fear and panic among those that know.  The military starts shooting at smaller voids.

Thus, a manned mission is devised wherein those participating are given robotic bodies.  The technology is so secret that participants have to have their deaths faked.   The original plan is to send two scientists.  When the launch comes, one scientist is sent with a soldier.  Only the scientist returns, providing some information.  The only message seems to be from another lost scientist, saying not to worry.

The movie is set up like a documentary, much like Europa Report.  It’s filled with footage of the principal characters going about their business and explaining what’s going on.  We get a lot of slow buildup leading to a climax that’s not much of a climax.  I didn’t even really feel like there was any actual danger to Earth.  I never felt like there was going to be some big threat.  Although there does seem to be a purpose to the events, we never get to see the intelligence behind anything.

I could see this as being the start of several similar movies or the pilot for a TV show.  It has an interesting premise that’s not really utilized.  Everything is very simple and scaled back.  In fact, the space agency is simply called The Space Agency.  There’s no reference to a specific agency, such as the ESA or NASA.  Similarly, the military doesn’t seem to be any particular branch of service nor is any specific country mentioned.  The Void would concern the entire planet.  I don’t recall much talk of various countries pitching in.  Maybe we’re supposed to assume that they are.

The 103-minute running time becomes a major disadvantage.  I’d understand if someone didn’t make it all the way through.  If you do stop midway, you’re not really missing anything.  In fact, this is one of the few cases where spoilers might be advantageous.  You can infer the message without wasting the time.

IMDb page