If you love sci-fi movies, You will be disappointed with Another Life. I tried to keep an open mind as I watched all 10 episodes. The premise of the film isn't necessarily bad but the execution is sad really sad.
This group of 'astronauts' (more about that in a minute) seem to be presented with several situations an episode that other series might spend several episodes (or a season) dealing with. The whole series feels rushed ( perhaps they were pretty sure that the series wouldn't be renewed and wanted to get all of their ideas out there). This honestly reminds of 'Lost in Space' series from the '60's. Situations develop and are dealt with in a matter of fact manner that makes them seem really immaterial and unimportant.
The science in this series is laughable. Perhaps it's meant to be. A few scientific words and phrases are used, (often incorrectly) and a lot of pseudo-scientific sounding words are thrown about freely. Some basic research in astronomy and space travel would have served them well. This story should be sucked into a Black Hole.
Now, the 'astronauts'. How this rag, tag group of individuals would ever end up on the same space mission is beyond me. With the exception of Niko and William, who is AI, the rest of the team must have been picked up outside of Starbucks on a Saturday morning. Each has a particular skill, to varying degrees, but they have no training, organizational skills or discipline and chain of command isn't even an afterthought. Most of them would have been forced in the airlock and jettisoned on most any other series. Oh, and the soma sleep chambers seem to be able to keep producing an unlimited number of new characters. A character gets killed, let's awake someone else from their soma chamber.
Back on Earth things are a bit better. Erik and Niko's daughter Jana seem to hold things together until the military gets involved and Marshall law is instituted.Then things get laughable and fun times ensue with the Artifact. This isn't a spoiler, but why does the military usually respond to something coming to Earth with only rifles? Honestly, what can a bullet do to deter an advanced civilization?
To be fair (I really am trying), perhaps this series was to be more about interpersonal relations and just happens to be set in this time period. Again with the exception of Niko we never really get to know the character's backgrounds. We just start to get to know Cas but then it goes no where. Several conversations take place between characters that would be best said at the coffee shop on Saturday morning than while exploring the universe, The whole story seems disjointed and seems to skip around a lot.
To summarize, I really, really wanted to like this series. Katee Sackoff does a good job as Niki. Samuel Anderson plays William well. From there the characters seem one dimensional, very shallow. The back-biting mutinous behavior of the crew on the ship reminds me of a middle school lunch period, hardly believable of an astronaut corp of the future.
On a side note: I am certainly no prude but the almost constant use of profanity served no purpose and felt really forced. When any thing is overused, they become meaningless.
+++++++++++++++++++++ I purposely don't read other reviews before I write one. As I look at previous reviews now, it's amusing how may references to Starbucks there are.
This group of 'astronauts' (more about that in a minute) seem to be presented with several situations an episode that other series might spend several episodes (or a season) dealing with. The whole series feels rushed ( perhaps they were pretty sure that the series wouldn't be renewed and wanted to get all of their ideas out there). This honestly reminds of 'Lost in Space' series from the '60's. Situations develop and are dealt with in a matter of fact manner that makes them seem really immaterial and unimportant.
The science in this series is laughable. Perhaps it's meant to be. A few scientific words and phrases are used, (often incorrectly) and a lot of pseudo-scientific sounding words are thrown about freely. Some basic research in astronomy and space travel would have served them well. This story should be sucked into a Black Hole.
Now, the 'astronauts'. How this rag, tag group of individuals would ever end up on the same space mission is beyond me. With the exception of Niko and William, who is AI, the rest of the team must have been picked up outside of Starbucks on a Saturday morning. Each has a particular skill, to varying degrees, but they have no training, organizational skills or discipline and chain of command isn't even an afterthought. Most of them would have been forced in the airlock and jettisoned on most any other series. Oh, and the soma sleep chambers seem to be able to keep producing an unlimited number of new characters. A character gets killed, let's awake someone else from their soma chamber.
Back on Earth things are a bit better. Erik and Niko's daughter Jana seem to hold things together until the military gets involved and Marshall law is instituted.Then things get laughable and fun times ensue with the Artifact. This isn't a spoiler, but why does the military usually respond to something coming to Earth with only rifles? Honestly, what can a bullet do to deter an advanced civilization?
To be fair (I really am trying), perhaps this series was to be more about interpersonal relations and just happens to be set in this time period. Again with the exception of Niko we never really get to know the character's backgrounds. We just start to get to know Cas but then it goes no where. Several conversations take place between characters that would be best said at the coffee shop on Saturday morning than while exploring the universe, The whole story seems disjointed and seems to skip around a lot.
To summarize, I really, really wanted to like this series. Katee Sackoff does a good job as Niki. Samuel Anderson plays William well. From there the characters seem one dimensional, very shallow. The back-biting mutinous behavior of the crew on the ship reminds me of a middle school lunch period, hardly believable of an astronaut corp of the future.
On a side note: I am certainly no prude but the almost constant use of profanity served no purpose and felt really forced. When any thing is overused, they become meaningless.
+++++++++++++++++++++ I purposely don't read other reviews before I write one. As I look at previous reviews now, it's amusing how may references to Starbucks there are.