I will have to state I was pretty much against this TV series from the announcement. It seemed a bad idea and to remake the Nicolas Roeg film starring David Bowie was a fool's errand. Luckily it's done cleverly enough with some nods to the film but allows itself to become it's own thing.
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays a new alien coming to Earth find Jerome Newton, David Bowie's character from the film and basically discover what the fuck happened to the guy sent to get water to save their planet 45 years ago. Lots of fish out of water stuff the first few episodes which is amusing enough and also some new world building never even hinted at in the movie. We see much more of the alien planet and that culture and over 10 episodes we get a better idea why they have chosen earth. Some of it is hand waving nonsense but works on a symbolic level and a lot of time is spent more on the machinations of the CIA, Jerome Newton and the new spaceman who has named himself Faraday. Naomie Harris plays a scientist who has given up on her career after a terrible radiation accident that was her fault but she is the only person on Earth who can interpret the alien tech to help Faraday complete his mission. Kate Mulgrew plays a ruthless CIA agent and Bill Nighy takes over the Bowie role.
I don't want to spoil much but it's safe to safe the story gets complex and is pretty engaging and while they keep away from trying to be anything like the Roeg film (a very good call), each episode is named after a Bowie song and in the episodes Bowie lyrics are woven into the dialog which is interesting as an idea but often seemed forced to me.
Visually well filmed and effects that work and look great but don't overwhelm the story or call too much attention to themselves. Too many of the characters are damaged, some to the point it would be impossible for them to work in a Walmart, never mind be CIA agents. The two leads work well but some of the others are really hard to relate to. Too much attention is paid to their flaws and not to who they are so it's hard to know what we are supposed to feel about them. This doesn't keep the series from building and twisting in ways they are entertaining and engaging, though. Despite the title and sure material it stays pretty grounded in its storyline and while not a classic like the movie it stands enough on it's own that I would say to give it a try.
2 comments:
I only watched the original movie once and it was...weird. But Bowie was so brave in it. He's fully nude and it's honestly...no big thing. I mean, it's just so natural it doesn't feel like a wow moment even though it's David Bowie walking around naked. Still, it was a hard film to FEEL anything about as its strangeness kept it apart, at least for me. That being said, I can't see making a series about it and not being as strange as the movie. The idea feels like when they made 2010. They basically ignored all the filmmaking of Kubrick and instead tried to make an action movie out of it. Still, I respect your opinion. I just don't see myself likely to try it. Thanks for the review!
I was glad they didn’t try and make a new Nicolas roof film out of it and tried new stuff. The film was pretty cold, on purpose I think but you are right that it doesn’t affect you emotionally really. I like your comparison with 2010, very fair. I like 2010… mostly. I like different takes as long as they are trying to make something interesting and not just cashing in. I still haven’t read the man who fell,to earth story even though I have had a copy for years!
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