{"id":22581,"date":"2021-04-22T10:01:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T17:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22581"},"modified":"2021-04-22T10:01:56","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T17:01:56","slug":"stowaway-is-tense-but-feels-overly-familiar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22581","title":{"rendered":"STOWAWAY is Tense, But Feels Overly Familiar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/24_0006_C+-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7079\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This film is currently available to stream on Netflix.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Space-travel and science-fiction movies have had a fairly common (if unintentional) message in recent years\u2026 essentially, that something will most certainly go horribly wrong and require extreme sacrifices. It leaves one with the impression that exploring the unknown may not actually be worth all the trouble. At least, that\u2019s the case after watching features like <em>Gravity<\/em>, <em>Ad Astra<\/em>, <em>Life<\/em>, <em>The Martian<\/em>, <em>Interstellar<\/em>, <em>Sunshine<\/em> and even <em>The Midnight Sky<\/em>. <em>Stowaway<\/em> is yet another example of this trend. It\u2019s a familiar story about a troubled mission that displays acts of self-sacrifice for the greater good. However, the end results feel a bit flat and the film doesn\u2019t quite match up to similarly-themed efforts.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Stowaway_02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22582\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commander Marina Barnett (Toni Collette), physician Zoe\nLevenson (Anna Kendrick) and botanist David Kim (Daniel Dae Kim) are astronauts\nheading for Mars for scientific research. After successfully launching and\nleaving Earth\u2019s orbit, they discover launch technician Michael Adams (Shamier\nAnderson) unconscious in one of the spacecraft vents. Truth be told, he falls\nthrough the ceiling, causing damage to life support systems in the process. The\nastronauts treat the man, but soon realize that there isn\u2019t enough oxygen to\nsupport all of them on the journey. The group brainstorm and try to solve the\nissue, but further setbacks leave them with dwindling resources and tough\ndecisions to make.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Stowaway_03.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22583\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concept is full of dramatic potential, particularly as\nthe team discuss disturbing issues and options as things become dire. And like\nother titles with a similar plotline, one potential solution is incredibly\ntreacherous. In order to secure extra breathable air, some of the characters must\nvolunteer to suit up and shimmy along a suspended metal line to a platform far\naway from the main craft. This particular sequence is exciting and serves as a\nhighlight. It doesn\u2019t involve fast-cutting, but instead focuses on individuals\nmoving slowly towards their goal. The technique actually extends the scene and maximizes\nthe importance of every gesture, adding tension and unease to the experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, some of the other elements aren\u2019t nearly as\neffective. In order to emphasize the isolation of the characters, conversations\nbetween the astronauts and ground control on Earth quickly turn into one-sided\ndiscussions. We only hear the leads quietly talking into their mics. It\u2019s an\ninteresting idea, but ends up curtailing some of the suspense. It might have\nadded more anxiety to hear the intense concern on the other side of the line.\nThe movie also is a little vague about how the stowaway ended up onboard.\nInstead, the characters simply accept the situation and focus on other\nproblems. It feels like an important story point that isn\u2019t addressed or maximized.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Stowaway_01.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22585\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Additionally, one wishes that the characters onboard weren\u2019t\nso good-natured. The movie could have used a little more panic on the part of\nthe principal characters given the extreme situation. One expects tempers to\nflare and for self-preservation instincts to kick in. A team member does speak\nto Michael about the strain he is putting on everyone\u2019s lives and makes a\nsuggestion as to how he can help solve the problem, but the discussion doesn\u2019t\nlead to significant conflict. Knowing that a death would extend the lives of\nothers onboard, you would expect everyone to be sleeping with an eye open. But\non the whole, the crew behaves nobly under the circumstances. It\u2019s admirable to\nsee, but it doesn\u2019t make for a nerve-wracking show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Stowaway_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22584\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cast are fine and the movie features an appropriately\ntense finale, but isn\u2019t nearly as gripping or stress-inducing as it could have\nbeen. Instead of amplifying the life-threatening ramifications of the situation\nand seeing its psychological effects on the astronauts, the movie takes an\nill-advised low-key and muted approach to the material. In the end, <em>Stowaway<\/em>\nends up feeling like an also-ran in the space-disaster movie genre. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This film is currently available to stream on Netflix. Space-travel and science-fiction movies have had a fairly common (if unintentional) message in recent years\u2026 essentially, that something will most certainly go horribly wrong and require extreme sacrifices. It leaves one with the impression that exploring the unknown may not actually be worth all the trouble. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,1491,5134,6251,17772,17776,18136,19158,19159,19160,19161,23076],"class_list":["post-22581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-anna-kendrick","tag-daniel-dae-kim","tag-drama","tag-sci-fi","tag-science-fiction-2","tag-shamier-anderson","tag-stowaway","tag-stowaway-film-review","tag-stowaway-movie-review","tag-stowaway-review","tag-toni-collette"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}