I watched tonight’s Bionic Woman remake, mainly because it’s produced by Galactica’s David Eick and features Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck), Mark Sheppard (Romo Lampkin), and Aaron Douglas (Galen Tyrol). It was pretty good; not fantastic, but pretty good. And the secret government program in charge of the bionics program was, appropriately, a lot creepier than the one in the original 1970s series.
A lot of the advance reviews said that Michelle Ryan was boring as the lead, but I didn’t find her particularly so. Still, Sackhoff (as an earlier bionic model turned rogue) unsurprisingly steals the scenes they share.
In other news, I’m pleased to see that an animated film of DC Comics’ New Frontier series is in the works. New Frontier is essentially a re-imagining, from the standpoint of a 21st-century comics sensibility (meaning darker, edgier, and more political – with, e.g., superheroes serving as covert enforcers for the U.S. government in Vietnam), of the origin of the 1950s-60s version of the Justice League, with emphasis on Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter. (Yes, the title “New Frontier” is supposed to be an homage to JFK’s fascist political program of the same name; well, nothing’s perfect.)
I agree. It was certainly better than “Journeyman” or the first episode of the new season on “Heroes,” ther othe two genre shows I’ve watched so far this week. Pre-season publicity suggested that “Alias” was one of the inspirations for this treatment, and I can see similarities of attitude—the combination of a melodramatic adventure series premise with a morally dubious spy agency more reminiscent of George Smiley than James Bond—though the coercive recruitment subplot and the hero’s reaction to it might perhaps more interestingly be compared with “La Femme Nikita.” I was a bit dubious about the “everywoman becomes a superpowered spy” premise, but the script actually covered that fairly well. Probably the hardest suspension of disbelief is the hero’s rapid move from ordinary civilian life to ruthless willingness to do whatever it takes to preserve some freedom of choice for herself.
On the other hand, “I was an ordinary person, but now I’m caught up in the machinations of a secret spy agency with its own agenda and no accountability, and I have do to whatever it takes to protect myself” seems like an unnervingly good metaphor for the situation of Americans generally in the post-9/11 era.
P.S. – Listen to a funny interview with Sackhoff with some news about both BSG and BW. (She reminds me of someone I know but I can’t think who ….)
Like you, I thought it was pretty good. I’d say it has potential; we’ll see about that. One thing I’m already not crazy about, though, is the idea that these “anthrocites” whatever in her blood giving her Claire-Bennet-like healing. That can all-too-easily become an annoyance if the writers aren’t careful. It works with (movie) Wolverine and it works with Claire, so I’m willing to give them a chance to see whether they can make it work for Jamie as well, I’m just saying it’s something to watch out for. We can compare notes after, say, 4 or 5 episodes.
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