I know the pilot for “V“, the remake of the classic 80’s miniseries aired last week, but I didn’t get to see it until the weekend. So why is this a two parter? You’ll have to wait until the end to find out. By the way, you can check it out yourselves (if you still haven’t seen it) at Hulu, or at ABC’s website, which includes a “commentary” version. (I should watch that.) I recommend watching first if your planning to see it, as there are going to be a few spoilers in both today and tomorrow’s report.
First, full disclosure. While I have seen the original miniseries (and the sequel, V: The Final Battle), I have yet to watch the TV series (which I just found at Fancast so I should at some point) or read the DC Comics version, and I only just heard about the novels. While I wasn’t a huge fan, I did enjoy the minis, which for 80’s TV was pretty good. I don’t know what V‘s die hard fans think of the show, but among the circles I travel (as well as a review in USA Today), were favorable, not to mention killing the competition in the ratings and I have to agree. It is a pretty good start. But how does it stand as a remake?
Not bad.
It’s not like the original was Star Trek or anything. (As a matter of fact, Star Trek wasn’t Star Trek until it hit syndication.) Personally, I like the actors (Morena Baccarin is properly scary yet beautiful as the leader of the Visitors), and they are believable in their roles. The vehicles pay some homage to the original (like the Visitors’ shuttlecrafts), but are still their own look, a proper update. Compare to something like the Lost in Space movie, where the Robot kind of worked, but the Jupiter 2 made no sense, or dropping old design Cylons as cameos in the new version of Battlestar Galactica, both of which bare little to no connection to their namesake.
The new V doesn’t even use the same character names. So why not call it something else, without having to use the old V concepts at all? Well, we can ask that about any remake, so let’s focus on how well the new people work with the old formula. In this version, the Visitors are already here, having hidden among us as a “sleeper cell”, with a few already going rouge (and one of our main characters “gone native” to the point of wanting to marry a human–I’m curious to see how that turns out). As I recall, the “rogue faction” was still on the ship, and they never went the infiltration root. We’re probably less accepting of alien visitors these days that we were in the 80’s. I wouldn’t know. We didn’t get too many alien visitors in the 80’s, or I was too young to notice.
We still get characters in the same “starting position”; the cop, the reporter, the pastor, and so on. However, Father Jack isn’t a replacement for Father Andrew, and Mike Donovan and Chad Decker are different as night and day. They are unique characters, with their own perspectives. I kind of with BSG had gone that route, rather than slapping character names wherever and calling it good. It’s what kept me from watching it.
I would love to find out what the V fan community (if it exists) thought of the pilot. I thought it was a fair remake. Scott Peters did a fair job remaking Kenneth Johnson’s baby. And this is Mr. Anti-Remakes talking. Like the original, I’m interested but hardly excited as I am some other properties (Doctor Who). Then again, my review of the first issue (read “pilot”) of Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade had a similar perspective, and by the end of the miniseries I’m still begging for a full series. So things may change. At any rate, I’m actually joining the chorus singing the praises of the pilot, although with a softer voice.
So if Peters did such a good job, why is he being taken out of the “bossman” role in the series? Well, the top theory is…political? Come on back tomorrow, where I’ll get into the part one “innocent” scene had in starting a political firestorm.
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