From the facade of the Mechanical Turk’s chess playing prowess to the cinematic terrors of Hal and the T-800, the evolving dynamic between man and machine has always inspired tales of intrigue, fear, caution. And in the age of AI, tech giants, and drone warfare, those themes have only grown more relevant among modern sci-fi. Mars Express continues to explore that relationship with sleek, smart, thrilling aplomb. To couch French director Jérémie Périn’s feature debut in terms of its genre ilk, one can see the DNA of Asimov’s robotic philosophy, Blade Runner’s future noir, and Ghost In The Shell’s self-evolution coursing through this sci-fi detective thriller.
Compelling world-building can make or break a story like this, and Périn deftly subtly infuses his striking canvas into every facet of Mars Express, be it nonchalant everyday comforts and tech, added style to visceral action set-pieces, or the background tensions of robotic revolution. In classic gumshoe tradition, it all starts with an unassuming case that unravels into something much grander and world-shaking; P.I. Aline Ruby (Léa Drucker) and her android partner Carlos (Daniel Njo Lobé) are on the trail of a missing university student with a history of jailbreaking hacks to free machines from servitude, only for that simple thread to expand into a deadly conflict between megacorp control, humanity’s future, and robotic freedom. From an opening case set among an overcrowded collapsing Earth, to the domed Mars city of Noctis – its ceiling screens a facsimile of a pleasant sky – the plot is almost comfortably familiar in its tropes and themes, always propulsively moving forward towards another chase or another revelation.
But it’s a perpetually fascinating surface, sketched with details: robotic pets with easy-to-wash removable skin, cushioning safety foam in lieu of air bags, uploaded consciousnesses of the dead into mechanical bodies, neuro-implants for mental group chats, newly developed bio-mechanical technology to replace robots. Some of those details just exist as narrative accents and visual flair; others cleverly expand into full-blown set-pieces and plot-altering developments. As an action thriller, Mars Express boasts a fluidity and intensity on par with the anime it’s clearly influenced by; the gunplay-heavy finale even delivers its own take on Ghost In The Shell’s spider tank showdown. Implant-enhanced assassins and high-speed ambushes offer gripping sequences that constantly inject the stakes with intriguing ideas.
Yet for all the vibrant visuals and exciting thrills, it’s those ideas, and how they refine Aline and Carlos from archetypes into unique protagonists, through which Mars Express stands as great science fiction. Léa Drucker and Daniel Njo Lobé bring their characters to life with weary naturalism, while Périn deepens the two with details like auto-locking liquor cabinets detecting Aline’s AA sobriety or Carlos’ aging tech constantly failing to update its firmware. Carlos actually begins to emerge as the protagonist the film is truly fascinated by: a ghost of a man with memories of his human life yet constrained by robotic laws, able to perform superhuman feats of gunfight precision yet still struggling with his family moving on after his resurrection of sorts.
Straddling human tribulation and robotic intrigue, his character truly embodies Mars Express at its best. At once a witty buddy-detective noir, a vision of a future turmoil on another world, and a robotic revolution unfolding amid technological upheaval, Jérémie Périn’s animated thriller confidently shifts from strength to strength until a quietly affecting finale, amplifying familiar themes and well-trodden personalities into genuinely engaging consequences and characters.
Photo courtesy of GKIDS
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