Lost in Space (2018)

[Parker Posey] makes the counterfeit doctor a bona-fide sociopath. And a solid reason to keep watching. You may need one. In what’s probably a trend, the 10 episodes of the 2018 Lost in Space seem intentionally constructed with the binge-watcher in mind, hence the leisurely, erratic rollout of character, conflict and circumstances, and an introduction rooted in pure boredom.

Oddly enough, it’s the robot who proves most engaging. ... What really makes the robot stand out is its complexity. It’s mysterious, both in its origins, intentions, and inability to over-communicate. The human characters don’t earn the same mystery.

Lost In Space is at its strongest when the unknown is coming for the Robinsons, not the other way around. The Netflix series never fulfills the wasted promise of Lost In Space, but for a show that’s navigating such well-trod territory, it does turn up some intriguing unknowns.

It’s a dark, sometimes dreary Lost in Space with great special effects and some interesting character relationships that sit awkwardly alongside predictable plots.

Posey plays the role with a gravity that encourages the show to orbit her, eccentrically, whenever she’s in view. The dynamic exemplifies the awkwardness of this muddled update. Charging in several directions at once, it asks the viewer to imagine efforts to secure a proud future for humankind, but it seems most vital when painting depraved schemes to survive.

The thrill of exploration, or the examination of family dynamics, never feels like it arises organically from the action, in the way it might have on the show’s most obvious forebear that isn’t its direct predecessor: Lost.

The show’s creative team--the writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless and the showrunner Zack Estrin--has assembled these spare parts with more competence than the project really required, and in the first couple of episodes they achieve something that could fairly be called Spielbergian, or at least Spielberg-esque. ... Things subside pretty quickly, though, and the balance of the season is a formulaic and increasingly sentimental family drama.

There are some nice action sequences, particularly in the opening two episodes, directed by Game of Thrones‘ Neil Marshall, and the series as a whole looks great, convincingly transforming the wilds outside Vancouver into something that feels genuinely alien. But outside of everyone’s complicated relationship with the Robot (and even that’s a very slow burn), there’s just not enough there in the story or characters that feels distinctive or compelling enough to keep going.

The show is watchable, but mostly for the special effects. The scripts are plodding and formulaic and the direction consistently flabby.

Only Ignacio Serricchio, as mercenary mechanic and unrepentant booze smuggler Don West, brings a spirit of infectious irreverence to these adventures. Otherwise, it's a long slog to the climax which ends where the series should have began. [16 Apr - 29 Apr 2018, p.12]

The new Lost in Space (all 10 episodes premiere Friday) is visually adequate but substantially thin, a stack of matzoh crackers where one hoped for frosted Pop-Tarts.

As a vision of adolescence facing a life-and-death crisis, it’s far too tidied, controlled, and sober to come off as relatable. There’s no sense of how seductive and overwhelming the unknown can be for an adult, never mind a kid or teenager. And as a vision of adulthood in both personal and elemental disaster, it’s simplistic, safe, and dominated by work.

The show looks like a blockbuster space movie, with a soundtrack loaded up with the same wonder-filled strings and horns we hear in those same movies. But all that action is painfully repetitive and tedious. ... Posey, though, grew on me as Dr. Smith. She’s not over-the-top enough to raise the overall energy level, but she provides a welcome spot of evil and humor. While the Robinsons brave every crisis the CGI whizzes throw at them, always certain they will prevail, her fear and loathing are tons of fun.