Should I get Dark Angel?

POSTED BY: Calhoun
UPDATED: Sunday, November 12, 2006 00:49
VIEWED: 6408
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THIEFJEHAT

Thursday, October 12, 2006 9:12 PM

For those of you saying season 1 was good, I think I have to disagree. As I watch this show (I just happened to rent season 1 from blockbuster yesterday) I am never suprised at any turn. Perhaps I'm spoiled by Joss's storytelling prowess, but James Camreon has yet to wow me. Example: In one episode I just finished on disc 2 Max was remembering a boy from her past who shared her abilities. At the same time a young guy enters the plotline of a different situation elsewhere. And I go "gee, 100 bucks says this dude just happens to be the guy max was talking about" and guess what? I was right. This situation wasn't new, I had already predicted several things on disc 1 and frankly was getting tired of watching at all.

Another thing that irks me is I can't shake this feeling that James Cameron copied Faith to create his character Max. Max acts and presents herself exactly like Faith. In fact, the way they've made Jessica Alba look, Max and Faith could be sisters. So here's a super strong bio-engineerd girl (copy of slayer strength) who is trained as a soldier (copy of slayer training) who is an anti-hero with an attitude (copy of Faith's personality). Add to that she has a wheelchair-bound handler guy who is a hacker and gets information for her that allows her to get into adventures (copied the concept of a watcher).

The last thing that irritates me is the wooden lines that come from Alba, esp when she is narrating. There are just too many character encounters that simply do not play off the way people would actually talk to each other or to an audience in the case of a narration. The only characters that strike me as believable are the annoying boss at Max's delivery service where she works, and her 4 friends, cindy, the jamacian, the white guy, and her roomate. Every other character has either spoken or acted their lines in off-kilter unbelievable ways that ruin any suspension of disbelief I had.

Maybe those of you praising the show are looking at the overall storyline. I can agree that the near future setting with fallen technology is engaging. I can also get behind the political upheaval of this world and the "kill or be killed" atmosphere that abounds. On those subjects of world-building Cameron got it right. All other things considered though, I will still stand behind my feelings regarding character failures in this show. I think anybody who watched Dark Angel would agree that Joss would have done better.

Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.

AURAPTOR

Friday, October 13, 2006 12:42 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
that horrific late 80's t.v. show -Beauty and the Beast

I liked Beauty & the Beast (until Catherine left the show, of course, then it spun into Galactica 1980 territory).

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

Dunno what my deal was back then, but I could not stand that show. And I liked Linda Hamilton too, but as for the rest of it,

me, please!

People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy. - Joss

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

SINGATE

Friday, October 13, 2006 4:54 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by thiefjehat:
Another thing that irks me is I can't shake this feeling that James Cameron copied Faith to create his character Max. Max acts and presents herself exactly like Faith. In fact, the way they've made Jessica Alba look, Max and Faith could be sisters. So here's a super strong bio-engineerd girl (copy of slayer strength) who is trained as a soldier (copy of slayer training) who is an anti-hero with an attitude (copy of Faith's personality). Add to that she has a wheelchair-bound handler guy who is a hacker and gets information for her that allows her to get into adventures (copied the concept of a watcher).

The last thing that irritates me is the wooden lines that come from Alba, esp when she is narrating.

I also noticed the Faith-Max similarities but they didn't bother me quite so much since I am a Faith fanatic. Always thought she should have had a spinoff BTW. Max wasn't nearly as bad as Faith nor was she in anyway mental. Most of Max's bad attitude is due to her being created and hunted by a not so nice government agency. Tends to skew a person's perception of society. She has every reason to live by the creedo "always watch your back". I agree with your assessment of Logan because I kept seeing Wesley everytime he was on screen, especially after he ended up in the wheelchair.

What you said about the dialogue I totally agree with. The overblown use of street slang by Max had me cringing a few times. Jessica Alba just didn't seem believable with a lot of her dialogue.

That last part was really my only criticism of the show. I even enjoyed most of the second season including all of the new additions to the cast. However, I did not like the way many integral members of the S1 cast were uncerimoniously dumped without any explanation. Good show, get it if you can!

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

PEULSAR5

Friday, October 13, 2006 5:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by singate:
Quote:
Originally posted by thiefjehat:
Another thing that irks me is I can't shake this feeling that James Cameron copied Faith to create his character Max. Max acts and presents herself exactly like Faith. In fact, the way they've made Jessica Alba look, Max and Faith could be sisters. So here's a super strong bio-engineerd girl (copy of slayer strength) who is trained as a soldier (copy of slayer training) who is an anti-hero with an attitude (copy of Faith's personality). Add to that she has a wheelchair-bound handler guy who is a hacker and gets information for her that allows her to get into adventures (copied the concept of a watcher).

The last thing that irritates me is the wooden lines that come from Alba, esp when she is narrating.

I also noticed the Faith-Max similarities but they didn't bother me quite so much since I am a Faith fanatic. Always thought she should have had a spinoff BTW. Max wasn't nearly as bad as Faith nor was she in anyway mental. Most of Max's bad attitude is due to her being created and hunted by a not so nice government agency. Tends to skew a person's perception of society. She has every reason to live by the creedo "always watch your back". I agree with your assessment of Logan because I kept seeing Wesley everytime he was on screen, especially after he ended up in the wheelchair.

What you said about the dialogue I totally agree with. The overblown use of street slang by Max had me cringing a few times. Jessica Alba just didn't seem believable with a lot of her dialogue.

That last part was really my only criticism of the show. I even enjoyed most of the second season including all of the new additions to the cast. However, I did not like the way many integral members of the S1 cast were uncerimoniously dumped without any explanation. Good show, get it if you can!

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

I would have to agree with most of the critisms of the show. When it originally aired I think Fox aired it to directly compete with Buffy (it failed miserably)but it didnt have the feeling of cohesiveness that Joss Whedon's shows have. Also, while I agree Jessica Alba is SMOKIN HOT her acting ability leaves a lot to be desired. The character would have been better served by another actress who could pull the "Faith Attitude" better. A few years ago I was discussing this with some friends and we thought Michelle Rodriquez would have been perfect.

CALHOUN

Friday, October 13, 2006 7:08 AM

Quote:
thiefjehat wrote:
Thursday, October 12, 2006 11:12
For those of you saying season 1 was good, I think I have to disagree. As I watch this show (I just happened to rent season 1 from blockbuster yesterday) I am never suprised at any turn. Perhaps I'm spoiled by Joss's storytelling prowess, but James Camreon has yet to wow me. Example: In one episode I just finished on disc 2 Max was remembering a boy from her past who shared her abilities. At the same time a young guy enters the plotline of a different situation elsewhere. And I go "gee, 100 bucks says this dude just happens to be the guy max was talking about" and guess what? I was right. This situation wasn't new, I had already predicted several things on disc 1 and frankly was getting tired of watching at all.

Another thing that irks me is I can't shake this feeling that James Cameron copied Faith to create his character Max. Max acts and presents herself exactly like Faith. In fact, the way they've made Jessica Alba look, Max and Faith could be sisters. So here's a super strong bio-engineerd girl (copy of slayer strength) who is trained as a soldier (copy of slayer training) who is an anti-hero with an attitude (copy of Faith's personality). Add to that she has a wheelchair-bound handler guy who is a hacker and gets information for her that allows her to get into adventures (copied the concept of a watcher).

The last thing that irritates me is the wooden lines that come from Alba, esp when she is narrating. There are just too many character encounters that simply do not play off the way people would actually talk to each other or to an audience in the case of a narration. The only characters that strike me as believable are the annoying boss at Max's delivery service where she works, and her 4 friends, cindy, the jamacian, the white guy, and her roomate. Every other character has either spoken or acted their lines in off-kilter unbelievable ways that ruin any suspension of disbelief I had.

Maybe those of you praising the show are looking at the overall storyline. I can agree that the near future setting with fallen technology is engaging. I can also get behind the political upheaval of this world and the "kill or be killed" atmosphere that abounds. On those subjects of world-building Cameron got it right. All other things considered though, I will still stand behind my feelings regarding character failures in this show. I think anybody who watched Dark Angel would agree that Joss would have done better.

BAH! .......

Now you pipe up! I just went out and bought both seasons, kinda scared to start watching them now.

Need to find a block of time now where I can watch a few episodes in a row.

JUBALISEARLY

Friday, October 13, 2006 7:19 AM

Dark Angel had a good premise, an interesting plot, a believable alternative universe scenario, and was good (not great) feminine/hero- scifi.

The direction of many of the episodes were stellar, and the characters introduced were robust and lively. Alba as pretty and exotic as she may be, was not the right choice for Dark Angels main character. Her acting was at times downright wooden, and her delivery of punchlines was litterally two decades late.

The individual writing for scenes was also lacking, there were many chances for the characters to explain themselves and thier motivations without delivering cheesy one liners or quick witty banter.

Many of the better shows featured dialouge that was too fast or too formulaic.

"I want to get closer to Logan but I can't"

"I cant fit in with the normal people"

"We have to save ____ from ____ because its the right thing to do."

The worst was an episode about an escaped monster that looks like a cross between a dog and an anteater, and is actually rubber suit over a midget and you can actually see a zipper.

Episodes like that make up about half of season 2.

In season 1, The show is great because it contrasts Max against normal people, and shows Max to be the real freak of nature that she is. (Yes the episodes where Max is in heat are not so bad either) Its at these weirdest of times where Max's humanity comes through the most and makes the viewer like her. However these times are far and few between, with much of the episodes lost in diatrobes about morons who view mutants as vermin.

Other great episodes include those that show Max's roots in Manticore, to the creepy idea of max having an identical clone with a semi-normal life. Same genes, different person...

Alec, a second season character, was a powerful new edition and was sadly written into a shoebox. Here we had the oppurtunity to see what the male side of transgenic's had to offer. Would he suffer from over agressive tendencies? Might he have something new to offer? No...just a boring watered down X-5. Instead of a great character we got a whiny Han wanna be who drifted from awkwardly heroic to obnoxiously predictable. Still the actor (who's on supernatural now by the way) did a superb job with what he was given, doing his best to give his character balls...though he was never allowed to go further. Had Dark Angel been more succesful there may have even been a spinoff...

Don't even get me started on the whole mutant nation thing...

I give Dark Angel a 7/10 over all with some big minuses for acting and writing.

CALHOUN

Friday, October 13, 2006 1:04 PM

Well, I just watched the pilot and it didnt suck!

Actually I quite liked it.

PATSRULE

Friday, October 13, 2006 3:07 PM

I'd say the first season was pretty good. The second season sucked harder than Christy Canyon. But if you thought the first episode was silly, it probably isn't for you.

NICODEMUS

Friday, October 13, 2006 3:10 PM

We all need to remember that prior to this show, many viewers only knew Jessica Alba from her role on 'Flipper'.

**************

(Thx to Desktop Hippie for the banner)
If you find yourself getting too worked up about stuff that isn't real (RP Threads etc), then go outside, breathe in some fresh air and try feeding the ducks. (Because ducks don't care about your politics, religion, skin colour, choice of music or even your haircut. They like everyone, provided you bring them food.)

CHRISISALL

Friday, October 13, 2006 6:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by thiefjehat:

The last thing that irritates me is the wooden lines that come from Alba, esp when she is narrating. There are just too many character encounters that simply do not play off the way people would actually talk to each other or to an audience in the case of a narration.

I had a similar negative reaction to Buffy when I started watching it; it took time to get the rhythm and feel for the show.

The rest of your analysis is just wrong. Logan as Watcher? No way.
Max had dark wavy hair (season 1) the only real similarity to Faith.
The lingo? Future, hello? Whatever.

On one hand you slam it for being a rip-off, and on the other for not doing what Buffy did so well itself. You can't have it both ways.

Ya didn't like it is all.

And yeah, Joss could make ANYTHING better.

Transgenic Chrisisall

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