Lost in Space (2018)

Lost in Space didn’t have to be very good at all to improve on either the original or the movie. Still, it’s much better than might have been expected, as is Netflix’s ongoing One Day At a Time reboot. The Robinsons and their antagonists look good to go again.

Netflix’s energetic reboot of the cult sci-fi series adheres to the best spirit of creator Irwin Allen’s vision of a family in space fighting for their futures.

The cast is solid, the FX are top-shelf and the survival-related drama comes at a steady pace, with some episodes (the pilot included) delivering no less than white-knuckle sequences.

Its casting is more diverse, its women more nuanced. Its Robot is amazing. But the story, which I liked better 10 episodes in than I did at the beginning, takes a long time to get off the launchpad.

It's not without problems, mostly having to do with pacing and length and a certain narrative repetitiousness that creeps in when your story arc lasts 10 hours. But its solutions to building out and modernizing characters who in the original were brightly painted cutouts are generally sound, while some basic alterations to the premise help ensure that the new series is not the cosmic "Gilligan's Island" the '60s series became.

There’s nothing particularly challenging here narratively, and the series starts on some rocky terrain before it finds its footing, but this is high-caliber escapism, the kind of well-done show that develops a propulsive rhythm as you get to know the Robinson family.

It's an old-fashioned, fast-moving, family-friendly adventure yarn unmuddied by an excess of subtext, political undercurrent or narrative mythologizing. Even feeling overcalculated at every turn, the show is fun, occasionally exciting and ever-so-accessible.

If not as sharply realized and profoundly resonant as the "Battlestar" reboot, this "Lost in Space" is a visual stunner packed with exhilarating action sequences. It's not a great drama, but it is great fun.