Friday, 13 April 2018

Lost in Space - TV Review - Netflix



I have been waiting for this to air ever since I heard it was commissioned. I grew up with the original back in the sixties and seventies I seen the 1990’s film but this was the TV series. First, I will get it out of the way! Yes, I like it but I had issues the biggest one involved the cowardly Dr Zachary Smith. He was “the star” even if you hated him, he brought more trouble to the Robinson family then any bug eyed alien but Dr Smith as had a sex change and is now a woman and very easy on the eye which felt wrong.

Another cast change from the original sixties show is Maj. Don West the military pilot of the Jupiter 2 in the new version Don West, is a highly skilled, blue-collar contractor, who did not intend to join the colony, let alone crash landing on a lost planet.

I am not one for comparing original TV shows with new reboots it is impossible, technology changes. The robot for instance show the kids today the original and they would laugh they are into CGI and green screen technology not a lump of tin rolling about which back in the day it was the top end of technology. “Danger, Will Robinson!” was the robot catchphrase we heard every week as Dr Smith coursed mayhem which could be a bit of a strong word for the trouble he brought to the show every week.

It has been around 50 years since I first watched Lost in Space the science-fiction family drama now getting new life as a series on Netflix. The original show is having a run out somewhere in my TV package on the channels I have at my fingertips.

Lost in Space follows the Robinson family as their colony ship crashes into a strange and inhospitable planet. It's like The Swiss Family Robinson, but in space. That's an inherently strong premise--sci-fi adventure mixed with relatable family dynamics--and Lost in Space might actually be able to deliver on it, if the first episode is anything to go by.

It is far from an exact remake like I mentioned earlier. John is an Army vet who, as the episode reveals, was more or less estranged from the rest of the Robinsons before they left together on a gigantic colony ship. Predictably, the episode uses flashbacks to continuously flesh out the main characters' relationships, though it doesn't overdo it. There's plenty more family drama to unpack, which Lost in Space will no doubt do over its ten-episode first season, but for the premiere the action is mostly in the present with the family.

If this episode has a single glaring flaw, it's an overreliance on Murphy's Law. Anything that could possibly go wrong for the Robinsons does--and that's after they crash on an inhospitable, icy, alien planet. One family member gets stuck in a dangerous spot with a ticking clock, and in their attempts at rescue, another plummets down a deep hole. Another breaks their leg in the crash, requiring a tricky emergency surgery.

The episode does a decent job establishing who the characters are, if not exactly why they left Earth in the first place. Will, the youngest, is unsure of himself, eager to help but not confident that he belongs there at all. Judy, the daughter from Maureen's previous marriage, is reckless and wants to prove herself useful. Her relationship with her sister, the book-loving Penny, isn't great, but they love each other deep down. They all--especially Maureen--still harbour some resentment toward John, and the episode gives the sense they might have a good reason, though it's not totally evident yet exactly what it is.

The show's production value is excellent; the planet's surface, the crashed ship, and the Robinsons' space suits all look like they're from a big budget sci-fi movie. That also extends to the show's iconic robot, which in this incarnation is significantly different--and more interesting--than the original's cheesy beep-boop companion to the Robinsons.

It all adds up to a promising start to a show that, over its previous incarnations, has ranged from campy fun to cartoonish bad. Netflix doesn't always knock it out of the park with its originals, but with the sheer, unbelievable number of Netflix original shows and Netflix original movies that hit the platform in a constant stream, it's bound to have some home runs now and then. Lost in Space might be one of them.

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