Aldo930
Since: Aug, 2013
06/16/2015 00:00:00
For whatever reason, movie producers think the best way to remake a TV show that was known for being campy is to make it Darker and Edgier.
All the more reason why movies based on TV shows suck 95% of the time.
"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."
BonsaiForest
Since: Jan, 2001
06/17/2015 00:00:00
It somehow worked for Batman, actually. Though I agree that in many cases it's a bad idea.
BonsaiForest
Since: Jan, 2001
06/17/2015 00:00:00
At the same time, I think even Darker and Edgier could have worked just fine if the story made more sense and if there was more actual exploration of the planet and more stuff happening. My bigger problem, by far, is the lost potential for a fun story.
Aldo930
Since: Aug, 2013
06/17/2015 00:00:00
The Batman films weren't based off the TV series, though...
"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."Leave a Comment:
Lost potential
The 1960s TV show Lost in Space was known for its camp value, which is ironic since it was created as a competitor to Star Trek. It involved exploring the alien planet that the Robinson family crash-landed on, and interacting with the life forms there. It started out serious, but, failing in the ratings compared to Star Trek, switched to campy comedy to survive.
So, how much of that carries over to this movie?
The basic plot is the same, with the doctor attempting to sabotage the mission and kill the Robinson family, and the movie carries itself seriously, with barely any humor. Will Robinson, the famed child genius of the original show, remotely pilots a robot and transfers anything he says via the robot's own voice. I can think of many possible jokes that could be done with that premise, but the only one we get is the robot saying "MOM SAYS GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!"
The TV series had the characters frequently exploring the planet. Here, I'm annoyed by just how little of that happens! The planet looks very alien and fascinating, and yet we see very little of the outdoors. Most of the movie takes place indoors. It doesn't explore places; it stays in places, and the plot doesn't move much faster than the characters.
Except when it does. In the final act, suddenly a lot happens at once, a convoluted mess involving time travel and an adult Will Robinson coexisting with his family from the past. And the traitorous doctor has apparently mutated into a giant spider-like creature because... he was scratched by an alien spider? I had no idea that when an animal scratches you, you turn into a giant version of it. How does that work?
Besides the sloppy mess of a final act, the lack of actual exploration, and the slowness of the plot, what else does the movie have? A lot of shooting. I guess we gotta have our shooting action in there, right?
Bottom line: the spirit of the original show is gone. All of its ideas could have been done, and we'd have gotten a better movie. Show some intelligent alien lifeforms. Show some exploration. Put in some campy comedy. Do any of those things, and you'd have a better movie. Instead, it fails to carry any of what made the original show a classic, and fails to be particularly good on its own.