Europa Report (2013)

There are times when I want to kick back with the daughters and watch an old school Sci-Fi flick. Not the creature feature or alien invasion movies, but the old school scientific exploration films of my youth. Of course, finding those are becoming harder every day. Needing to take a small break from paranormal themed flicks, I decided to roll the dice and see if Europa Report will fall into that category.

Plot/ An international crew of astronauts undertake a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon.

I was excited to see this as a PG-13 movie that I could watch with the kids. In this day, it is nice to see a Sci-Fi flick dealing with contact that is family friendly but not to a Disney level. That is exactly what you get with this one. It is all done really well in a believable manner. The scenery is awesome, the storyline works, the acting is good, and the atmosphere is perfect. Sure, the dialogue, while believable, may be a touch too scientific for some and there are some parts early in the movie that cause confusion if you do not give it total attention, but those moments are necessary to lay the groundwork for the overall storyline. In the end, this was one of the better scientific based entries into the Sci-Fi genre in some time. More importantly, it adds some realism to space exploration and the dangers and weirdness astronauts may encounter. If you enjoy scientific Sci-Fi flicks with some distress, you should enjoy this. If you are looking for a action flick, stay away.