What can I say that has not been said here 299 times already? I just couldn't help it... I had to weigh in and say that this movie really blew an opportunity to both entertain the masses and redeem LIS TV fans.
OK... admittedly Irwin Allen and company let several episodes of the classic series degenerate into juvenile camp, but the show was well-made overall and had some endearing qualities. If you just dumped the really corny episodes, you'd have a series that delivers fairly decent sci-fi adventure and entertainment.
Now comes the long-awaited movie. I was jazzed when I saw the previews. When the movie finally came out, I left the theater shaking my head. The director and screenwriter should be punished for squandering such a potentially hot property.
With the exception of William Hurt, I liked the casting. The great choices are Mimi Rogers as Maureen, Matt Leblanc as Don, and Gary Oldman as Dr. Smith. To a lesser extent, other decent players are Heather Graham as Judy, Lacey Chabert as Penny, and Jack Johnson as Will. But the script deals them all a fatal blow. Why does Judy have to be a doctor all of a sudden? Can't Penny be nice and less whiny? Would they really put little Will in charge of "robotics?" Please. The original series gave the kids some good qualities, but let them act their age and didn't push it too far.
Gary Oldman plays the right mix of personality flaws to make a great Dr. Smith. His storyline is not too bad until the unfortunate turn of events at the end.
William Hurt was the big mistake here. The crew has no reason to follow his character's attempt to give orders. He should have been left home in a lab somewhere. Even Maureen emasculates him fairly easily. Guy Williams as John Robinson more than held his own as a husband, father and sparring partner for Don in the original - a true leader. Hurt is a great actor, no doubt, but his Robinson is annoying and has no command presence. It's not pretty when the kids don't listen to him but Don is forced to submit to his (?) authority.
Speaking of Don, Leblanc could have played him in a "major" way if this movie script had not reduced him to an immature boor. Too bad.
Now for the robot... he was clearly established as a main character in the series. But in the movie, besides saying "Danger Will Robinson" about 659 times, he/it looks more like a tank than a mechanical man. How enduring can that be? At least the classic old model could look friendly or scary, shake your hand, zap a few bad guys, and then make you believe he had feelings. This new model gets destroyed before anyone has any "bonding" time, and then the kid rebuilds him to look like one of the tortured mutant toys from Toy Story.
As for Jar Jar Binks the space-chimp-teletubby... let's not waste any more thought. Things are bad enough already. CG characters in live-action movies should be banned by the Screen Actors' Guild.
The story is the biggest offense in this movie. Dysfunctional family takes some wrong turns and has to deal with the future. Action scenes that play more like video games. Once again, I can only lament... why didn't they ask me (or anyone else for that matter) how to make a decent TV show-based movie???
OK... admittedly Irwin Allen and company let several episodes of the classic series degenerate into juvenile camp, but the show was well-made overall and had some endearing qualities. If you just dumped the really corny episodes, you'd have a series that delivers fairly decent sci-fi adventure and entertainment.
Now comes the long-awaited movie. I was jazzed when I saw the previews. When the movie finally came out, I left the theater shaking my head. The director and screenwriter should be punished for squandering such a potentially hot property.
With the exception of William Hurt, I liked the casting. The great choices are Mimi Rogers as Maureen, Matt Leblanc as Don, and Gary Oldman as Dr. Smith. To a lesser extent, other decent players are Heather Graham as Judy, Lacey Chabert as Penny, and Jack Johnson as Will. But the script deals them all a fatal blow. Why does Judy have to be a doctor all of a sudden? Can't Penny be nice and less whiny? Would they really put little Will in charge of "robotics?" Please. The original series gave the kids some good qualities, but let them act their age and didn't push it too far.
Gary Oldman plays the right mix of personality flaws to make a great Dr. Smith. His storyline is not too bad until the unfortunate turn of events at the end.
William Hurt was the big mistake here. The crew has no reason to follow his character's attempt to give orders. He should have been left home in a lab somewhere. Even Maureen emasculates him fairly easily. Guy Williams as John Robinson more than held his own as a husband, father and sparring partner for Don in the original - a true leader. Hurt is a great actor, no doubt, but his Robinson is annoying and has no command presence. It's not pretty when the kids don't listen to him but Don is forced to submit to his (?) authority.
Speaking of Don, Leblanc could have played him in a "major" way if this movie script had not reduced him to an immature boor. Too bad.
Now for the robot... he was clearly established as a main character in the series. But in the movie, besides saying "Danger Will Robinson" about 659 times, he/it looks more like a tank than a mechanical man. How enduring can that be? At least the classic old model could look friendly or scary, shake your hand, zap a few bad guys, and then make you believe he had feelings. This new model gets destroyed before anyone has any "bonding" time, and then the kid rebuilds him to look like one of the tortured mutant toys from Toy Story.
As for Jar Jar Binks the space-chimp-teletubby... let's not waste any more thought. Things are bad enough already. CG characters in live-action movies should be banned by the Screen Actors' Guild.
The story is the biggest offense in this movie. Dysfunctional family takes some wrong turns and has to deal with the future. Action scenes that play more like video games. Once again, I can only lament... why didn't they ask me (or anyone else for that matter) how to make a decent TV show-based movie???