Aug 16, 2012
Posted by admin in Movies | 3 Comments
Dark Angel – The Complete First Season
VariousOne of TV’s much more interesting difficult-girl action shows, Dark Angel is a distinctive blend of the individual, the adventurous, and the politically conscious. Cocreators James Cameron and Charles Eglee present a complicated scenario of biological super-science and social collapse in which their gene-manipulated heroine and hacker-journalist hero can genuinely make a difference. In this first season they also supply an adversary who is a lot a lot more than just a traditional villain. Jessica Alba is impre
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Jessica Alba as Max the genetically engineered super soldier,
I do not remember why I missed “Dark Angel” when it originally aired, but now that I have seen the first season I am willing to admit I made a big mistake (Mea Culpa, James Cameron). The story is set in Seattle, Washington, in the year 2019, which is after “The Pulse,” an electromagnetic bomb that basically pushed reset on the United States. However, that is only the setting, because the star is Jessica Alba as Max Guevera, who at first glance has a day job as a bike courier, and at second glance works as a cat burglar at night, bit at third glance and closer examination turns out to be a genetically enhanced superhuman created by the government who escaped from a military training school ten years earlier.
“Dark Angel: The Complete First Season” has a couple of plot lines that make Max both the hunter and the hunted. Max is always on the lookout for her “siblings,” the other kids who escaped from Manticore, while Lydecker (John Savage), the head of the secret program is trying to find both them and Max to return them to government service. Meanwhile, Max’s days as a cat burglar are over when she tries to rob Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly), a rich kid who is the secret cyber-journalist known as “Eyes Only,” who enlists her into his idealistic crusade to clean up corruption in Seattle. Of course, the two are made for each other, but we have to wait for them to catch out to this rather obvious fact. What really makes “Dark Angel” work is the extent to which this futuristic dystopia has been worked out. This is not so much a series where the mythology emerges over time, as it is one where the premises are so strong that they sustain multiple episodes and provide compelling sub-text for the rest. Compare this to similar series that take a while to find themselves, and you can see why these solid premises allowed this one to be able to have so many solid episodes early on.
Creator James Cameron’s imprint is clearly on this production, but mention should be made of the show’s Vancouver crew, which obviously includes a lot of “X-Files” veterans. The production values on “Dark Angel” are pretty striking in creating the seedy world of post-pulse Seattle and its icon Space Needle where Max likes to go and contemplate existence. But the sense of style comes as much from the characters as the setting. Alba is truly stunning as Max, able to play hard, soft, or whatever the scene demands. Weatherly has one of the squarest jaws in television history, and Savage has fun milking everything out of the bad guy (he really does care for his children, but duty never gets in the way of such emotions). The supporting cast has some compelling texture types, from Normal (J.C. MacKenzie), the overbearing dispatcher at Jam Pony (“Bip! Bip! Bip!”), to urban philosopher Herbal Thought (Alimi Bllard), and everybody’s favorite, Original Cindy (Valerie Rae Miller), Max’s roommate and co-worker, who basically has the right attitude for every occasion.
After watching the complete first season of “Dark Angel” you will want to move on to the complete second season, which just came out and you will be disappointed that there were only two seasons of the series. However, when you see the overall drop in quality during season two, you will not be that surprised (it takes half of that second season for the series to really get going). But “Dark Angel” is one of the better science fiction series to be produced in the last ten years, and the first season does provide a complete story arc.
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|How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Pulse…,
I had never watched Dark Angel during its short run on FOX. I’m a big Cameron fan, but mixed reviews and lack of interest on my part kept me from giving it a shot. I didn’t even know the show had been cancelled when the first season popped up in stores on DVD. One thing I love about DVD is the chance to experience full seasons of TV shows in one big serving. I’ve become a Buffy/Angel addict, had the chance to collect all The X-Files (which I watched religiously since it first aired when I was a kid) and have also discovered great shows like Felicity, Six Feet Under, and The Shield. I’ve always been a huge movie buff but I’ve found that television done right can be much more satisfying than any film. Stories unfold like novels and characters develop in ways that films just can’t match. Greg Berlanti’s new show Everwood that’s on the WB is a good example of this. Hands down, that show is superior to 90% of the garbage at theaters this year. Which brings me to Dark Angel.
As an Amazon addict, I read countless reviews before deciding whether or not to buy movies and TV shows I haven’t seen before. I’m fairly busy, I’m a writer/director and I run a production company in Los Angeles, and usually don’t have the time to post my own thoughts. But I feel Dark Angel merits a post to hopefully get more folks to give this show a shot.
After reading a ton of reviews on various DVD sites and here on Amazon, I purchased the set. Based on the comments online, all seeming to either love the show or loathe it, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. The set arrived and it sat on my desk for a week or two before I even popped it in. Some free time came up and in a very short perod of time I watched the whole series, mostly late at night on my PC. Some albums, movies and TV shows come into your life at the right time and fill a void or make you feel a certain way. I don’t know exactly what was going on but I found myself really moved and involved in this show. I got really emotionally involved in Max’s journey to find her long lost siblings and in her relationship with Logan. The scenes where they share blood in particular are touching and original. If you like thought provoking sci-fi with Cameron’s fingerprints stamped all over it, this show is for you. Its got action, drama, romance, humor and a decent dose of darkness to keep you enthralled. Jessica Alba, lovely and tough as Max, really shines. Michael Weatherly and John Savage are also terrific.
The first season of Dark Angel builds to a nightmarish conclusion in the season finale that will have you screaming at the screen and wanting to rip your hair out because the second and last season isn’t released until October. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy.
The 6 disc DVD set contains all 22 episodes of the first season and a nice set of extras. Commentaries on four episodes including the Pilot presentation are chock full of details about the production, hefty budget, special effects and Cameron’s involvement as co-creator and writer. Also included are four featurettes, auditon tapes, gag reel/bloopers, and a trailer for Cameron’s Dark Angel video game. Highly recommended in my opinion.
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|Some Original Ideas & A Sexy Star Make It Worthwhile.,
The series is set two decades in the future from 2009-2019 in Seattle, Washington, & stars the uniquely beautiful Jessica Alba. One of the refreshing things is that the main character is a brooding beauty who rarely smiles, rather than the stereotypical fake smiling or hysterical heroins that pollute so many series.
Jessica Alba is very believable in her torment. Her character sprang from a military genetic experiment called “Project Manticore” where kids were genetically altered to be super-human fighters & they were kept as prisoners in their training school. In their early teens the kids rebel & a few escape. Soon terrorists set off an electro magnetic pulse bomb that wipes out all debt & personal information, this clearly helps her to disappear. Her former captors pursue her obsessively as corruption runs wild in this highly chaotic society that in some ways has regressed into a third world country.
Meanwhile, a rogue underground news network regularly hacks into the government networks to inform the public of various conspiracy theories. Alba’s love interest Michael Weatherley comes from this group. Dark Angel mixes several different genre’s of storytelling{ part The Fugitive & part Outer Limits} that makes for a somewhat slow, but still entertaining series. In conclusion, the special effects are sometimes stronger than the suspense & plots.
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