#734 – 2001: A Space Travesty (2001)

2001: A Space Travesty (2001)

Film review #734

Director: Allan A. Goldstein

SYNOPSIS: U.S. Marshall Richard Dix is assigned to go to a secret moon base to rescue the president, who has been cloned to fulfil the orders of an evil mastermind.

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: 2001: A Space Travesty is a 2001 science-fiction film. Starring Leslie Nielsen as inept US Marshall Richard Dix, he must rescue the President of the United States from a secret moon base where he will be replaced by a clone to perform the wishes of an evil mastermind. Straight from the start you can tell what this film wants to be: A clone of Police Squad, even with Nielsen, but mixing in some sci-fi and real-life personalities parodies. There is – in short – nothing in this film that replicates the success of Police Squad or The Naked Gun films. The big problem is that none of the comedy works: there is one joke that is funny within the first five minutes. The rest is just directionless, predictable drivel that is of no value whatsoever. Even Nielsen, who is obviously very experienced in these roles, can’t save it. He just seems like he has no idea what he is doing. The humour is just very base crude and raunchy stuff that fails to inspire, push any limits, or display any wit. The physical slapstick comedy also doesn’t really land, and a lot of it being done with CG just leads to some awkward interactions with it. Even when Nielsen does his own stunts, you just get the feeling he’s too old to do anything that’s worthwhile.

While the title seems to suggest that this would be a a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody (the film also being released in 2001), outside of the intro sequence (which also isn’t funny), there’s no other reference to it. In fact, it seems to veer more into parodying Men in Black that had recently come out, but again nothing in particular that would make it stand out. The finale taking place at a performance of the three tenors has a load of actors playing real-world figures, such as the tenors themselves, Bill and Hilary Clinton, the Pope and the Artist formerly known as Prince, which you might think has the potential for some funny scenarios, but the whole scene is a mess of scraps that barely connect, and impossible to follow with any kind of narrative. Any potential in this film is constantly wasted, mismanaged, and there’s just an overwhelming sense that nobody here knows how to write anything funny. 2001: A Space Travesty is aptly named: it is a comedic travesty, offering no laughs, the lowest common denominator in crude humour and lazily ripping off The Naked Gun with no idea what made it work. Even if you’re a die hard Nielsen or Naked Gun fan, there is nothing or value here.