Every once in a while, an actor can single-handedly hoist a film to near greatness, despite a banal script and subpar direction. Usually this comes in the form of Oscar-baiting fare, seldom in the form of a movie set in outer space 65 years in the future. But such is the case with Guy Pearce's performance as Snow, a government agent wrongly convicted of espionage and granted an opportunity for reprieve if he can rescue the president's daughter (Maggie Grace) from a space prison run amok. What's the president's daughter doing with rapists and murderers in extraterrestrial maximum security? That one's on writer/director duo James Mather and Stephen St. Leger and their head-smack storyline. To their credit, they keep the action scenes taut and don't succumb to the overall absurdity. But it's Pearce's film, and he chews and spits the one-liners like a hardened wise-ass. Han Solo would be proud.
