Mars Express

5/3/20241h 29m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ Built to serve. Programmed to live. ~

Overview:

In 2200, private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera are hired by a wealthy businessman to track down a notorious hacker. On Mars, they descend deep into the underbelly of the planet's capital city where they uncover a darker story of brain farms, corruption, and a missing girl who holds a secret about the robots that threatens to change the face of the universe.

Director:

Jérémie Périn

Status:

Released

Language:

French

Buget:

$7,900,000.00

Revenue:

$1,455,713.00

Key words:

android
man vs machine
planet mars
hacker
female protagonist
cyberpunk
robot
private detective
adult animation
near future
arrogant
cliché

Cast

Léa Drucker

~ as ~

Aline Ruby (voice)

Mathieu Amalric

~ as ~

Chris Royjacker (voice)

Daniel Njo Lobé

~ as ~

Carlos Rivera (voice)

Marie Bouvet

~ as ~

Roberta Williams (voice)

Sébastien Chassagne

~ as ~

Inspecteur Simon Gordaux (voice)

Marthe Keller

~ as ~

Beryl (voice)

Geneviève Doang

~ as ~

Jun Chow / Jun Chow 2 (voice)

Thomas Roditi

~ as ~

LEM (voice)

Thierry Jahn

~ as ~

Vlasek / Vendeur / Homme du bar (voice)

Serge Faliu

~ as ~

Faux M. Chow / Père de Jun / Reporter / Technicien (voice)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 5 month(s) ago
7
By the 23rd century, Mars has been colonised by humanity thanks to advanced android technology. It’s here that private investigator “Aline” and her robotic counterpart “Carlos” have been hired to track down an hacker by the gazillionaire owner of one of the leading tech companies. Pretty swiftly they realise that this is going to be a dangerous and duplicitous business and they are soon embroiled in something altogether more internecine and sinister. Now the plot here isn’t the most original, indeed for much of the first hour is does scream “I, Robot” (2004) at us, but then it embarks on something more original as the concept of brain farming is introduced. This is essentially the harvesting of excess brain capacity from people who are selling their cerebral processing capacity to help create the ultimate in AI. The question is, why and who for? Moreover, as this duo dig deeper they begin to discover some uncomfortable truths about the evolving dynamic in the relationship between human beings and their supposedly subservient automated creations. The animation is stylish and there’s plenty of shoot-out action for ninety minutes here, but it’s really the philosophy that helps this stand out. It challenges so many assumptions about a master/servant relationship and delivers a denouement that I found to be sensibly apposite. It packs quite a bit of thought and creativity into it and is well worth a watch.