Bionic Woman.
Now, please understand, I am 40 years old. I watched the Six Million Dollar Man from the time Col Steve Austin was test piloting a new plane that crashed on him until the end of the series. So, of course, I was thrilled when the character of Jaime Sommers was introduced and they became engaged and she became bionic. I was devestated when she died and I know I didn't miss an episode for the time The Bionic Woman was on ABC.* So, while I was excited about the recreation of this show, as a Bionic officiando I was also a little leery of it.
My first response? I really enjoyed it. Frankly, it made me think "Alias on Steroids" could have been the name of it. While the show is a little over-the-top, requiring a healthy suspension of disbelief, it is incredibly entertaining. It is also convoluted enough that you have to really pay attention or you will get lost. The good guys are not all good. The bad guys are evil. Jaime seems to be having a bad day.
The part I didn't like? Why name her Jaime Sommers? She isn't. Jaime Sommers was an orphaned only child tennis pro who then became an elementary school teacher and worked for the government stopping terrorists before it was cool! This girl is a college drop-out bartender raising her high school age sister because their father dumped her on the step. This is not your mother's Bionic Woman. This is a new series with the name of an old series. That is fine. This is 2007, not 1976. But change the main character's name. It is disturbing otherwise.
Having said that, I am going to watch this show, at least through December. I will be going back to school in January, so who knows what I will be doing then? Or how much time I will have for TV?
*Plus I have seen 2 out of the 3 Bionic movies. I would like to watch the 3rd one.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I'm nearly 39 and love both original Bionic series (Man and Woman), and am upset Universal has yet to put them on DVD... at least in the US... Bionic Woman has been out in the UK for years!
I was not impressed with the premiere... not sure I'll return... I felt it moved too quickly, and it struck me as a two-hour premiere that some network executive whittled into one...
I like the lead actress (she's actual Australian, I think, but does a great American accent), but I thought her being a bartender who was in a car accident (versus tennis and skydiving) was just lame!
the blurring of lines between good and bad is very contemporary, and I'm ok with that... but the new BW plot borrows heavily from a sci-fi/horror b-movie called "The Watchers," starring Corey Haim... and the fight sequences were straight out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I liked... they were too familiar to be original here...
I had thought about writing a review for this, but instead have a new post up about something else... come by and see it...
I basically wrote my BW review here in this comment!
Wasn't "The Watchers" a novel by Dean Koontz? Good novel, bad movie?
I always hated the skydiving part of Jaime's accident. It always looked lame and fake to me, so I really liked the car accident, it felt real. It made me jump.
And I don't do Vampires.. ever! I don't know what it is, but I can not deal with them (apparently there was a very graphic Vampire commercial in the middle of the show, but either a)they didn't show it here or b) I was in the bathroom). So any relationship to Buffy would be completely lost on me.
Like I said, it reminded me a lot of Alias and I loved Alias, so I am good with that.
Thanks for the comments!
LLL - I just looked it up, and "Watchers" from Dean Koontz... my issue was not the quality of that movie, but that the Bionic Woman producers decided to rip it off...
Pete,
My point was that I loved the book and refused to watch the movie because I was told it stunk. So I have no reference. I understand what you are saying about ripping off other ideas. Makes me nuts, especially when it is blatant, like the Charlies Angels ripping of Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger or whatever it is.
But I still enjoyed the show.
in both, you have a secret government experiment to create super-soldiers for the military... the first experiment doesn't go so well, but the second is better... the first one is out of control, escapes and tries to find and kill the good one... yup...
glad you enjoyed it... I may give it another look... have a great weekend!
Post a Comment