Inspectors from Mars

Mars Express (Jérémie Périn, 2023/2024)

Might as well copy and paste my Godzilla Minus One (2023) review for Jérémie Périn's directorial debut. It echoes a lot of my sentiments on an alternative industry delivering what Hollywood can't or will no longer deliver. Mars Express (2023) is a French, animated, science fiction film proudly wearing its inspirations - notably Blade Runner (1982) and Ghost in the Shell (1995) on its sleeve. It forgoes the popular, Marvel standard which has infected other sci-fi properties over the years, opting for the type of philosophical themes you would expect from an Isaac Assimov novel.

Set in the year 2200, Périn manages to construct an incredible amount of world building in his debut. Undoubtedly the film's major strength. Throughout its lean running time Mars Express impresses in marrying future tech in a human society; opening the books on various moral and ethical quandaries. Prime example is the topically relevant subject matter — artificial intelligence.

Mars Express transitions from a conventional film noir/detective story to a conspiracy/espionage thriller. Its two main leads: Mars based private investigator Aline Ruby (Léa Drucker) and her robotic partner Carlos Rivera (Daniel Njo Lobé). Aline is very much reminscent of the traditional private dick with personal demons; notably her drink problem. Carlos is an interesting contrast; a dead human brought to life as a robotic back-up, replete with a hologram head. A chase sequence early in the film involving the two leads apprehending a jailbroken robot and a shady tech engineer really highlight the dynamic between the two leads and the amazing world(s) which they inhabit.

Artistically speaking, Mars Express looks distinctively European in style. Obviously inspired from Moebius and sci-fi themed bande dessinée books, it stands out in comparison to its American and Japanese peers. The entire reason the film even earned any time from me.

Périn's Mars Express is hardly a game changer, but it does handle its themes and topics superbly well for what's essentially a ninety minute feature. That's commendable, especially in the wake of the soporific and forgettable The Creator (2023) — a cyberpunk title that's already wreaked amnesia on everyone less than a year later.

File Mars Express as another surprising gem from 2023 which has eventually made its way onto the Dada Debaser telly box much later on. Still calling it a 2024 film in the end of year lists, though.