Europa Report Reviews
Top CriticThere is something refreshing in the decidedly downbeat "Europa Report," a science-fiction film with the emphasis on science that doesn't cheat on the tension.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Low key and earnest, Sebastián Cordero's "Europa Report" makes compelling use of familiar genre material to create an intelligent science fiction thriller.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
There are scenes of unutterable beauty in Europa Report, a low-budget space exploration sci-fi suspenser from Ecuadorian director Sebastián Cordero.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
What isn't straightforward about the plot is either hackneyed, implausible, or both.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
The idea that life evolved independently on Europa is perfectly plausible-and that makes what would be a fun and exciting film in any case all the more worth watching.
I'm not qualified to judge the accuracy of the scientific detail, though the filmmakers convey a genuine respect for hard science instead of the cursory interest shown by most science fiction movies.
If this isn't quite a great movie, it should be an immensely gratifying one for sci-fi fans tired of the conceptual overkill and general dumbness of "Prometheus" or "Star Trek Into Darkness."
Working from Philip Gelatt's script, Cordero keeps things consistent, elegant and streamlined. "Europa Report" actually may be understated to a fault, but that's preferable to gratuitous melodrama.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
The real treat here is the science, not the fiction. The film's sleek aesthetic was developed in consultation with NASA about what such a mission would actually require, and look like as viewed on surveillance cameras.
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| Original Score: 3/4
This sincerity, coupled with a documentary-style approach, can feel a little dry, but the script's refusal to go to extremes only raises its plausibility.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
"Europa Report" is a Grade A version of a B picture, a streamlined science fiction story that smartly tells a familiar tale without breaking the bank.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
While Europa Report recalls such small-ensemble stuck-in-space flicks as Moon and Sunshine, it's basically The Blair Witch Project relocated to the vicinity of Jupiter.
There are genuinely chilling moments in "Europa Report," thanks in no small part to a talented cast that will likely look familiar to viewers, even if the actors' names aren't instantly recognizable.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
"Europa Report" goes ploddingly where bolder films have gone before.
Finally, a found-footage thriller that merits, and expands on, this irrationally popular format.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Simply put, the care and thoughtfulness that goes into footage-faking has not been applied to the film's script or structure.
The sights are gorgeous-a seamless mix of archival imagery and impressively rendered digital views of our galaxy-and the science is, to layman's eyes and ears, more than credible.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Some viewers might have preferred a stronger finale, but the movie manages to raise provocative scientific questions about our place in the universe while also delivering some neat, understated thrills.
Its high-minded emphasis on exploration and impeccable special effects are pitted against a familiar one-by-one slasher-like plot and structural cheats...
Two currently popular strands of genre filmmaking, the low-budget sci-fier and the found-footage thriller, merge to reasonably plausible and impressively controlled effect in Europa Report.
