Lost in Space

I watched Lost In Space recently after not having seen it in a while, and felt the desire to post a quick review of this movie.

When it came out, it seemed that everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon of panning this movie. It seems people felt that the acting was not up to par, the script was almost laughable, the FX shots were cheesy and this was just generally a bad movie.

They didn't get it.

I would never have considered myself a fan of the original TV series, though I do remember in my teens watching it on British TV on a Sunday afternoon when there was little else to do, often with lunch. Let's be honest here; it was hokey, campy and its relationship to "science fiction" as a genre started and stopped at the spacecraft and the robot. The rest was filler. Given that though, the original pilot was actually pretty dark; obviously a failed attempt at a very serious TV series that was degenerated to a comedy by the public impression that Irwin Allen could not produce a serious show.

And so we come to the movie. If you go into this expecting a campy sci-fi series bought up to date you'll be disappointed. Similarly if you go in expecting a serious movie more along the lines of the original pilot you'll also be disappointed. However, if all you want is to be entertained for two hours and not think too hard about the science, this is about as good as a typical summer blockbuster gets. It's a comic-book rendition of the concepts laid out in the pilot, and it shows.

While the script is sometimes a little "off", the well established actors such as Mimi Rogers, Gary Oldman and William Hurt chew up the material and create a charged and enjoyable atmosphere. Gary Oldman especially whips out yet another character who's intelligent, thoughtful and utterly evil. A comic-book stereotype if ever there was one and I can't think of anyone else who could've pulled it off quite so well.

Although the pacing trips a couple of times throughout the movie, the story generally moves along at a rapid and enjoyable clip. Don't expect good science from this; there isn't much here for the real science geek... but while the science may not be perfect it's at least not so glaringly and annoyingly wrong as in Armageddon for example which I can't sit and enjoy due to the stunningly bad science especially in "Act Two" of that movie (right after takeoff).

I truly feel that this movie could've been the start of a reasonably enjoyable franchise, but there were too many people who were ready to pan it because it wasn't what they expected. Granted, the trailers probably had much to do with that since they either made the movie out to be a campy takeoff of the TV show, or a serious Sci-Fi movie. This is neither, but put in perspective of being a comic book in and of itself, this is actually a highly enjoyable movie for anyone who just enjoys the pleasure of being told an engaging and enjoyable story.

I doubt there will ever be a sequel to this movie for all the reasons I detailed above; for a start the actors are getting older and are no longer the people as portrayed in this movie, the children especially. However, if there were ever a sequel then I know I would be first in line at the theatre to see it. Yes, I enjoyed it that much.

On that note, I usually find children in movies distracting and detracting from the rest of the movie. However, Lacey Chabert and and Jack Johnson do a wonderful job of being both fun to watch and a believable pair of siblings who mask their true affection for each other in barbs and insults... I know, I have younger siblings as well!

Take a chance; sit down with some popcorn and someone you love... if you have kids then there's nothing here that will really negatively affect them either. Let the world melt away and just enjoy this movie as it was meant to be enjoyed; as a comic-book bought to life. You might find it better than many other movies that tried the same formula.

I liked the movie, but I fear it suffered from the same disease that Star Trek The Motion Picture suffered from - too grandiose a concept, too grand an undertaking, too big an effects budget and enough plot for several movies. Lets see, we have the dysfunctional family becomes functional plot, we have the evil traitor in the med lab plot, the time travel plot, the metallic spider plot, the sexual tension between Dr. Judy and Major Don plot. This puppy had more subplots than a season of X-Files.

It was great to see Mark Goddard in a role with some meat on it. However Angela Cartwright and Marta Kristen were given extremely short shrift. And Bill Mumy and Jonathan Harris should have been involved. I know Jonathan Harris doesn't do cameos, but dammit, find him a role! And as for not getting Bill Mumy to play future Will Robinson - as far as I'm concerned, that singlehandedly reduced this flick from a great movie merely a good one. If they had enough money for the hideous yellow excuse for merchandising (how blatant can you get?), they sure had enough to hire the full original cast.

Frankly, I don't think this movie is as bad as some people make it out to be. I like the early episodes of the original series (particulary the first six), when the show had a more serious tone (and before Jonathan Harris sabotaged it by turning up the comic antics as Dr. Smith) and it's nice to see the film stay closer to that serious tone and not emulate the more campy aspects of the series from its later episodes. The cast is good for the most part and I love the visual FX.

However, once the Jupiter 2 crashes on the planet and we get caught up in the time travel older Will Robinson bit, that's when the movie falls apart completely. And the biggest mistake of all is that the older Will Robinson is not played by original Will Robinson, Bill Mumy, even though he badly wanted to play the part. Having listened to the comments of the director on why he didn't cast Mumy on the DVD, I have to say his explanation doesn't wash. Especially when both he and the scriptwriter concede that the device of using the "older Will Robinson" didn't work on the screen as it did in writing. It never occurs to them that maybe the scene would have worked if this new character sprung on us was someone with a definable connection to the old show.

I don't think Lost in Space was a bad movie. Is it a movie to be honored the all-time best? No, it's not. There are flaws in this movie, but I don't care too much. The movie is about a family, the Robinsons trying to go to the other habitable planet in the galaxy. They do all right until the villain, Spider Smith tries to kill the family and he ruins the navigational system. Now the Robinsons are lost. The acting is OK. Some of the actors did a great job such as Matt LeBlanc and Gary Oldman. The rest did OK. The special effects are not as good as movies from the time period such as Armageddon or Godzilla. The effects are good, though. I was disappointed in the writing. Akiva Goldsman is a respected writer with talent. For a bad script, all the actors did a good job. The music is pretty good. I liked the electronic soundtrack. I give this movie a 7/10 because I liked the space scenery, the gadgets, and the action.

Although very fond of the original TV series from the 60s, especially the first season, it is by no means a perfect show and is pretty uneven. It was great and more when at its best (the whole of the first season) but it was near-embarrassing at its worst (the second half of Season 3).

Still it had memorable characters (Dr Smith a genre landmark character), a good cast (Jonathan Harris is unforgettable), an endearing campy charm, a dark seriousness in the first season without forgetting to be fun and inventive stories and monsters that made the most of an at the time unique concept. There are worse TV-to-film translations around than 1998's 'Lost in Space', such as 'My Favourite Martian', 'Dragonball: Evolution', 'The Last Airbender', 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and 'The Avengers' (1998).

'Lost in Space' however is still one of those films that has its moments and a few good qualities, but one where it has great talent on board yet manages to make one question its existence. Before those defending the film arrogantly accuse people of being too stuck in the past and refusing change, actually there is far more to the problem than it being a disappointing adaptation of the show, in fact that's the least of its problems and while not a terrible film on its own terms it's a long way from good (personal opinion of course).

That it has a darker tone than the show, although some critics may disagree, is not the problem necessarily, and actually people would have appreciated the bigger, opened up approach (with technology having advanced a lot since the 60s it was necessary). The first season had a serious, dark tone too (even if fans remembered the campy charm of Season 2 and the over-the-top silliness of Season 3 a little more, judging by the word campy is often thrown around describing the show). The difference was that it didn't take itself too seriously and still managed to be entertaining and inventive. The film version, to me and fans/critics (this is what is meant by this criticism, so contrary to it being a seemingly misleading criticism it's a valid one to me), strips away the fun, loses the charm, takes itself too seriously mostly and has very little imaginative or original about it. It just felt charmless and dreary.

Not without its bright spots. It is stylishly and atmospherically photographed and the Jupiter II setting is very cool and the most imaginative the film gets. Some of the special effects are good if never spectacular. The music score has creepiness and gives 'Lost in Space' some energy. 'Lost in Space' gets off to a promising start and gives one the impression "hey this may not be so bad after all", and there are a few nice adrenaline jolts in the action.

Casting has its high spots. The best of the lot is Gary Oldman, who actually looks like he's having fun and gives a different, darker and more menacing Dr Smith and it actually works (even though wildly different). Matt Le Blanc may have moments where he's a little smug, which is due to him having some of the worst of the dialogue, but he does have a likable charm too and has a few amusing moments. Jack Johnson is neither too cloying or grating and the characterisation of the Robot is spot on.

However, the rest of the cast don't work. William Hurt couldn't have been a blander choice for Professor Robinson, he sleepwalks through his role which cried out actually for the involvement of Bill Mumy. On the other side of the spectrum, Lacey Chabert irritates to a mind-numbing degree and, although the film does try to develop her with particularly those video diaries, she is little more than a stereotypical teen at the end of the day. Mimi Rogers has nothing to do and Heather Graham also grates and has non-existent chemistry with Le Blanc.

While 'Lost in Space' is not a bad-looking film on the whole, there are a lot of cheap-looking costumes and some noticeably poor special effects. Particularly for that interminable Space Monkey (Blarp? who is actually for me far more annoying than Jar Jar Binks) and for Smith's spider form (some of the worst spider effects on any visual media, almost as bad as spiders from low-budget SyFy/Asylum films and the infamously terrible ones in the 'IT' mini-series). Really hated the end credits too, they go well overboard with the nausea-inducing surrealism and the overbearing music and as an epileptic it made me feel uncomfortable.

Despite some intriguing moments and sporadic amusing moments early on, most of the script (especially for the characters played by Le Blanc and Graham and in the third act) is in 'Batman and Robin'-like cornball and cringe territory. Target audience is an issue, being too silly and trying too hard and failing to be cute for adults and with heavy-handed sermonising and family values to appeal properly to younger children, who will also find some of the ideas (like the time travel elements and most of the final third) going over their heads (and no this is coming from somebody who finds children's taste and intelligence for film under-estimated).

The film is far too long and drags to dreary degrees in most of its later stages. Most of the time things are taken too seriously and fun and charm can barely be seen anywhere. Then there is the final act which undoes 'Lost in Space' significantly, where things just get weird, tonally muddled, nonsensical and borderline incoherent, far more so than the second half of Season 3 of the show.

Overall, not THAT bad but very lacking in most departments. 4/10 Bethany Cox