SOURCE: Thomas, Kevin. “Ghosts of Mars Attempts to Create a Red Scare.” Los Angeles Times (24 August 2001): F6.

In the following review, Thomas offers a negative assessment of Ghosts of Mars, describing it as “routine Carpenter fare.”

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is arguably the horror/sci-fi director's most routine movie.

Although Carpenter is sometimes schlocky, sometimes over the top, the maker of Halloween and Escape from New York, among many others, can usually be counted on to generate plenty of thrills and chills in high-energy fashion. But Carpenter's heart doesn't seem to be in this lackluster space adventure set in 2176. What's more, his stars—Natasha Henstridge and Ice Cube—don't exactly energize the proceedings.

Henstridge is a sullen, hard-edged blond lieutenant on the Mars Police Force who's marking time before being able to return to the Earth, even though the Red Planet has been colonized because of overpopulation...