For a movie so deeply steeped and rooted in science and adventure, the new Amazon documentary “Good Night Oppy” (GNO) is in relatively short supply of both. Unlike the sublime, just-the-facts masterpiece “Apollo 11” (2019) or the criminally underrated, bare-bones sci-fi mood piece “Moon” (2009), “GNO” is more closely akin to the dramatic, heart-tugging “Hidden Figures” (2016) and “Apollo 13” (1995).
There’s no denying those latter two titles are excellent, fact-based human-interest stories and that is exactly the same tone and hook “GNO” strives for. The problem is, the principal “characters” in the film are robots that have human traits and characteristics thrust upon them by their creators and the wonk marketing wing of NASA.
The entire point of the mission was to determine if there was ever water on the now dust bowl planet which, in theory, would indicate there was once some sort of microbial life on Mars. The hope was the two robots would last 90 Mars sols (a sol being 40 minutes longer than an earth day) while transmitting data and images regarding minerals and the like.
Gendered Robots
Christened “Opportunity” and “Spirit,” the robots were also gendered as twin sisters, something which delighted many, yet left others feeling as if everyone involved with project valued image and public perception over mission and efficiency. Murphy’s Law kicked in and it became clear quite a few people couldn’t figure out what they were doing.If there were flaws in the design, machine parts that didn’t quite jibe, faulty air bags or parachutes, rather than approach the situation with a collective git-er-done, the dozens of hair-net-wearing super geeks instead take a collective deep breath, metaphorically cross their fingers and symbolically whisper: “let’s hope this works.”
For a project that was budgeted at $1 billion (in 2002 dollars), the methodology of getting things to work often comes off more as “catch-as-catch-can” than the blazing efficiency we’ve been accustomed to seeing in other space travel ventures.
To be completely fair, the crew assembling the robots was under the gun of meeting an in-stone launch date and, if it was missed, there wouldn’t be another window to do so for two-plus years, so it turned into an “it’s now or never” sort of affair.
The fact that no human lives would be lost if the mission failed took some of the pressure off, but this didn’t prevent commentary from the public, the media, and nightly talk shows from poking fun at was increasingly looking like an inept exercise in futility.
A clip from the CBS show “Late Night with David Letterman” features the titular host quipping, “Big news from outer space, ladies and gentleman: Apparently now scientists claim there is no intelligent life … at NASA.”
Not the Genuine Article
The decision by White (and/or the producers which includes Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment) to rely heavily on CGI for the bulk of the Mars segments was a big gamble and, while it is admittedly impressive, it also comes with a noticeably deceptive and synthetic aftertaste.
No matter how great it might look, it’s not the real thing, only a computer simulation. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone that the CGI was designed by Industrial Light & Magic, founded by Spielberg’s good friend George Lucas. Why this was done could be because the actual black and white footage was flat and would have resulted in a visually unappealing movie, something that would almost certainly turn off the target audience (children and young teens).
To his immense credit, co-writer and director Ryan White (“The Keepers,” “Ask Dr. Ruth”) condenses the 15 years’ worth of stock video footage into a streamlined 105 minutes without it coming off as rushed or incomplete.
While relying far too much on an intrusive, sometimes bombastic score, the final 30 minutes of “GNO” is still the best portion of the movie. Often taking on the air of a mystery thriller, it concludes with palpable uplift, completing its own mission of making the audience feel good by convincing them, by any means necessary, that their investment of time and emotion was worth it.
