This is an acceptable film about exploring space. I'd recommend seeing it. The narrative isn’t particularly inventive; it feels familiar. Astronauts are dispatched to investigate a moon orbiting Jupiter, and the movie chronicles their journey and the problems they encounter. While the basic idea has been done before, it’s presented competently and straightforwardly, without unnecessary embellishment. The perfor…

Space exploration stories seem to be gaining popularity in movies and beyond. Several solid films—not just science fiction, but grounded in actual science—have come out recently. This one initially appeared to be among them until the very end. It seemed promising, but the ending ultimately undermined everything. It felt more like a documentary-adventure-drama presented as a found-footage film. I’d been wanting to …

Europa Report is one of those smaller-scale science fiction movies that occasionally surfaces and gains attention on genre websites—my own introduction to the film was actually on io9.com. With Hollywood seemingly committed only to expensive blockbusters aimed at audiences already familiar with the franchise (think sequels, remakes, or pre-existing properties), this kind of thoughtful but modestly budgeted genre film…