In Mars Express, two types of robots, the traditional kind and the androids, have more human traits and characteristics. The film explains that humans can create robotic versions of themselves in case they are unexpectedly killed. This means that once the person dies, the robotic counterpart will inherit all their previous versions’ memories and connections and continue living in their place. A handful of these types of androids are seen in various moments of Mars Express, but the main one the film focuses on is Carlos Rivera (Daniel Njo Lobé), the android partner of the film’s detective protagonist, Aline (Léa Drucker).
While Mars Express is a neo-noir detective story about Aline and Carlos investigating the mysterious murder of a college hacker named Jun Chow (Geneviève Doang), the plot is simply an excuse for Périn to explore complex ideas about artificial intelligence, humanity, and identity. What makes these two groups different in a world where humanity and robots are forced to co-exist? What specific traits make up humanity, and do these similar traits exist in robots? Are androids like Carlos in the same social class as regular robots, or are they treated and viewed more positively because they have more human-like traits?
These are questions that are constantly present throughout Mars Express. Had this been my first-ever foray into the cyberpunk genre, I would have found these questions fascinating and the film itself profound and deeply intelligent. Unfortunately for the movie, though, this is not my first encounter with either the cyberpunk genre or these questions about AI and identity.
Almost everything that Mars Express has to offer, both narratively and thematically, has not only been done before but also done better. From movies like Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence to anime shows like Ergo Proxy, Psycho-Pass, and Cowboy Bebop, numerous cyberpunk stories have not only tackled very similar questions that Mars Express is asking but have also used neo-noir detective stories to explore such questions.
While there’s nothing wrong with Mars Express treading familiar ground, the problem is that this film does not do enough to make it stand out or feel unique from its predecessors. It’s indisputable that this film is inspired by Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell movies, so much so that some critics have labelled Mars Express as the French answer to Ghost in the Shell.
However, unlike Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, which used complex dialogue and gorgeous visuals to wrestle a lot of profound philosophical ideas that required multiple viewings to understand fully, the themes explored in Mars Express are so surface-level and shallow that I felt like I completely understood everything within one single viewing. Compared to both Ghost in the Shell films I’ve seen multiple times and are considered some of my favourite movies ever, there is very little about Mars Express that is beckoning me to return and give it a second watch as nothing about its story kept me engaged or interested. At best, I was passively interested in what was happening.
Everything that I absorbed in Mars Express from a philosophical perspective isn’t anything new, nor does the film provide a unique enough perspective where it feels like I’m having a completely new experience. Even the characters felt like derivatives of previous cyberpunk detective antiheroes. Aline felt reminiscent of Rick Deckard and Spike Spiegel while Carlos is similar to Motoko Kusanagi and Batou from Ghost in the Shell. At best, Mars Express feels like a French rehash of some of my favourite cyberpunk/AI movies and anime, and while that may be fun for some, it left me empty and unengaged.
That’s not to say Mars Express is a poorly made film since, as I mentioned in the beginning, the film is visually and aesthetically gorgeous to look at. The film had great animation and cinematography that helped it feel both stylish and epic in scale. There were even a few action scenes that were so well-constructed that they left me enthralled and at the edge of my seat. Unfortunately, while Mars Express is a well-made film on a technical level, these elements alone are not enough to help it stand out from almost any other cyberpunk sci-fi story.
In many ways, I am disappointed with Mars Express because, quite frankly, I expected a whole lot more from this film. Based on the reception this movie was getting from festivals, I was expecting a modern and nuanced take on the cyberpunk genre with something new to say about humanity, artificial intelligence, and identity. What I instead got was The Creator, but in French.
Rating: 5/10