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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Strange New Worlds (2022)
A brief breath of fresh air
I've read many of the reviews on here and then watched it for myself, and I have to say, I'm quite relieved. The complaints of it being too "woke" are Completely baseless (not to mention missing the entire point of Star Trek having always pushed forward on social issues regardless), exhibiting few such traits that were indeed a hallmark of Discovery. Instead what we got was a pretty classic episode of Star Trek. FINALLY. Now, it was indeed lacking in originality, but I feel like this was needed for the first episode.
We've seen these things before in Star Trek. But (i hope!) this episode is a promise of things to come as much as anything. That we're back to where we came from.
Now, I have been fooled before. The first episode of Picard season 2 was just fine (if entirely over the top), but then it Very quickly went way down hill from there.
I remain cautiously optimistic for the future of Strange New Worlds 🤞🏻
Star Trek: Discovery: ...But to Connect (2021)
So much better!
After reading a lot of the early reviews for this one, I thought it would be another disaster like "all is possible", but instead this is easily a stands out episode of the entire series. Taking cues from TNG's "measure of a man" (but in no way living up to it), they finally managed to use the touchy freely nature of the show tot heir advantage.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with having emotions and perspectives in a show. Discovery simply tends to handle them in an enormously ham-fisted way, constantly Talking about how characters feel instead of Showing. One of the principle tenants of filmmaking and scriptwriting is to show and not tell. One which they unfortunately have yet to learn on this show.
But to conclude, here we have an episode of diplomacy in one storyline, and a moral dilemma in another storyline (though arguably both are), and not a single thing was exploded! Congratulations for making an episode of Star Trek, Discovery team! Now keep doing this!
(Feel free to explode things, but that's never supposed to be the principle goal of most Star Trek episodes. The goal should be to Resolve a problem, not to Explode a problem).
Now if we can just scale back on the constant "mystery box" plot devices, we'll be good to go! (look it up if you don't know what that is...but be aware, once you're conscious of it, it's hard to watch Discovery anymore due to their rampant overuse of it).
Star Trek: Discovery: All Is Possible (2021)
A new, new low
The bar was already very low in this series, but this episode was just shockingly bad. There was only one story arc that made any sense, but any and all character growth and emotionality in this episode (which is intended to be the basis of it) was completely gutted by the terrible writing, poor pacing, and utterly implausible circumstances. Even the special effects were quite lacking in this episode, which is typically their strong suit on this show. I feel terrible for everyone involved in this show.
Stargate Universe (2009)
A Successful Merger of Concepts
I'm going to try to address the many issues swirling about this series without spoiling the plot:
1) Similarities to other shows: There has been a great deal of speculation that the show is a 'ripoff' of Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, or even Lost. While I certainly don't disagree that it bears a striking similarity to Battlestar Galactica, I don't count that as a strike against it.
Prior shows are always going to have an impact on future shows. Film-making (whether it be TV or Feature) is an art that builds upon itself, and stands on the shoulders of those who came before it. The fact is the Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, and Lost are all GOOD shows, regardless of your impression of it or whether or not it struck you the right way, they were the best of their genres at the time, and even bent their genres into something new.
That being said, to call this show a 'rip-off' or 'carbon copy' of any of those shows is grossly over simplifying things and intentionally misleading. Perhaps we should just create a new genre name, like 'Adult Sci-Fi', so we can get over all these intellectual property theft allegations.
2) Dissimilarities to other Stargate franchises: This review will probably take a lot of heat for this, but - past Stargate shows actually weren't very good. Don't get me wrong, I've watched every episode of SG1, and most of Atlantis (still working on that), and enjoy just about all of it, but even while enjoying it, I was fully recognizant of the fact that it wasn't actually good. It's campy. The acting is sub-par, even when there are good actors in the shows. The sets are generic and bland, reminiscent of the original series of Star Trek, the scripting is packed with fromage, and the plots, no matter how original, were all clearly predictable.
But to a niche crowd (myself included) they were thoroughly enjoyable through a mixture of silly humour, sci-fi gratification, and a unique self-aware self-deprecation. But even so, the cinematography was regularly lackluster, the effects unconvincing, and the ratings carried along by loyal fans.
SGU lacks most of these shortcomings. There is the occasional campy humour, though typically coming from the same character. In that way this one character, Eli, has come to be the only vestige of the old Stargate franchises. This is made believable, though, because this character is quite similar to the people (like myself) who enjoyed the camp of previous Stargate in real life.
3) The mood: Many would say it's much too dark, both in production design and in mood. I say that it's about time. In past Stargate series', no matter how far gone a situation was, no matter how much danger they were in, the show was never EVER tense. It never mattered. Nothing ever really mattered. The characters were always too happy and fun and funny and confident and amicable to be capable of expressing any kind of peril. As such, the plots were always completely hollow. Nothing mattered, because it would all be fine in the end.
The only episode in both original Stargate series' that managed to capture any kind of deep emotional commitment or tension was Heroes, which just happened to be filmed in the documentary style similar to that of SGU. I don't solely blame the cinematography for this effect, though, but instead, for just once, the characters were encouraged to be vulnerable and hurt, like real human beings.
When people are in a serious situation, they get serious (mostly), and their flaws become more apparent. This is evident in this series, as it should be in such situations.
4) The set/production design: As for the dark set design, it makes some sense, as the ship is very old, and trying to save power. In past Stargate, no matter how old something was, it always looked like it was cobbled together the day before. The ancient city of Atlantis looking like it was maintained by a team of maid-bots and carpenters right up until the team's arrival. I will admit that the purposeful gloom goes a bit too far at times, but as far as I'm concerned, that's better than skirting the edge of cardboard box grade production.
SGU is simply a great show. Yes, it shrugs off its past franchise for the sake of its artistic intent, but it does so with wonderful results. The acting is largely superb, and even the episodes that in other shows would be considered 'in betweeners' come off as being some of the best episodes on television (like the episode Human).
I definitely recommend this show to anyone, and I absolutely recommend that past Stargate fans try to leave their preconceptions at the door, and respect it as its own show.
UPDATE: You will no doubt notice a massive spree of negative reviews on top of the 'helpful' pile on IMDb. Please take these with a grain of salt, as they are largely spam generated by a select few alienated Stargate fans who are working very, very hard to get this show cancelled. Rest assured, I myself have yet to meet a single classic Stargate fan who doesn't LOVE SGU, and I sure do know a lot of them!
Serenity (2005)
They aim to misbehave
Serenity is my top movie for 2005, and I'll tell you why: the characters. It is based on, and in conclusion to, the prematurely cancelled (thank you Fox) TV show Firefly. If you have seen the show before, you probably already love the characters, if not, you will.
Instead of being inexorably drawn by the tides of the universe, even though the main character at one point states that he simply follows the wind, this movie is drawn forward and driven by the characters. Their choices, their emotions, and their relationships are what guide this. Not technology, deus ex machinas, or even their desperate situation (which becomes increasingly so, as in any great sci fi flick).
Yes, the action is great, though not on par with the Matrix as some commercials state for some reason. Yes, the special effects are spectacular, although obviously not created by ILM. And yes, the story and the big twist revelation at the end keep you guessing. But what makes this movie is the characters. Believable, fresh and compelling.