The newest romantic comedy with a plus of fiction from HBO Max recently arrived in the streaming catalog without claiming to be “THE” movie, but between hits and misses, the plot manages to hold the viewer's ass from beginning to end. In Our Dreams from Mars we follow two young people who decide to board a spaceship to Mars, to join their love interests. With totally different personalities, Wal and Sophie need to help each other to achieve their goals, although the outcome is different than imagined.
Something interesting that the plot manages to do is give a different ending to the protagonists – of course we already knew that the characters of Lana Condor (Sophie) and Cole Sprouse (Walt) would be together, but their driving is different from the conventional. Each one lives in their own world, Walt works as a barista assistant and feels unhappy on earth and wants to live an adventure and that's why he constantly dreams of going to Mars. Sophie, on the other hand, is a brilliant student who wants to go to Mars to see her boyfriend.
In Our Dreams on Mars, we realized that the narrative is very simple and follows the basic script of a romantic comedy. The film has science fiction elements and that makes the look very interesting. As bizarre and as usual in American romantic comedies, the film doesn't focus on giving up who you are to be with the love of your life. Here we see more layers, although it is a superficial story.
The plot takes place in the future of 2049, where humanity has already colonized Mars and regularly sends people to help in the process. Bringing to the present, the long conversation with our present, because it is possible to make a reference to the current space race, which has the protagonism of Elon Musk, in the quest to clear the space. Good point for the insight. Another interesting detail is knowing that Walt is a robot assistant, he is a human who works for a machine – in China, we already have robot assistants. And in this vibe, the feature fits a sarcasm, an acid humor that even matches the plot that is balanced with moments of relaxation, sadness and romance.
The feature has good moments and this is due to the way Lana and Cole's characters gradually relate to each other over the course of the plot. It's not a relationship that happens overnight and it doesn't happen in a forced way, it's natural. While Sophie is more resilient, the Walt character is more laid back and always has a joke, sometimes it doesn't work. Something that bothers him is that he could have had a role that gave him more opportunity to be less silly since it's a role he has in most of his works. Apart from that flaw, the chemistry between Lana and Cole is good, their characters are charismatic enough to hold the attention of romance lovers.
A negative point goes to the treatment that the intelligent characters have. The film spends most of its time inside a ship that, by the way, is full of scientists and who use their intellectual abilities to prove themselves superior, even this is a glaring defect in Lana's protagonist, who at first appears to be a bit boring, leaving a feeling of distance for the viewer, but then it gets cooler.
Another negative point is the plot that proves to be flawed as the exaggerated use of terms like “space” as a prefix for any other word. In addition, some connections between dramatic situations do not work out, as the film makes use of some facilities in the script and this makes the plot poor in terms of cohesion and in the fact of establishing a solid narrative. the message of Our Dreams on Mars is to “be someone” with own motivations and desires, with a place in the world where you can be who you are without fear of external judgments, but the long one ruins this theory when he decides on Walt to meet a former classmate with whom he fell in love. in the last 24 hours. This subplot of Walt's love interest proves to be unnecessary, as his DREAM was to go to Mars - he signed up 37 times... it's more than enough will to be this character's north in the plot and not a flirt.
The soundtrack isn't as bold as it could be, but I enjoyed enjoying AJR and seeing how they consistently used CGI in their fictional settings. the direction of Christopher Winterbauer she's lazy, but she knew how to handle the comic moments. In addition, the well-crafted scenarios, with good cuts and interesting photography. Visually the film is pleasant and has good special effects, within the possibilities that it was allowed.
In Our Dreams on Mars, as superficial as it may be, the feature addresses the journey of two young people who need to find the reins of their own lives. While Sophie needs to walk her own path, Walt is as close to the connection as the audience can get, he's a guy who dreams of conquering what he doesn't find in himself, something wonderful and strictly special. And between questions and certainties, the film is right in adopting this purpose.