I've just seen the first episode of Atlantis for the first time, and while I was quite impressed on the whole, it was... I dunno. It just didn't get me fired up like SG-1 does. I'm not going to bash it to pieces seeing as it's only the first episode, but there are a few things that annoyed me about it:
1) The characters seem a bit bland and two-dimensional, and they all seem to have come from the Big Book of Sci-Fi Character Cliches. You've got the Strong-Willed Woman-in-Charge (Janeway, anyone?), the Hard-Jawed Military Guy (who sadly died), the Fresh-Faced Handsome Young Guy With a Troubled Past, the Nervous Scottish Bloke and the Geeky Scientist. Of course, it's only the fist episode, but there just wasn't the fantastic dialogue and character interaction seen in SG-1 between, say, Jack and Daniel, even in Children of the Gods. I was just aching for some of Jack's sarcastic remarks.
2) The whole show looks very futuristic. This was probably neccessary to seperate it from SG-1, but in my opinion it's getting rid of one of the best elements of SG-1 - the fact that it was (reasonably) believable, it took place in the here and now, with a relatively realistic setting. If you turned on Atlantis and you didn't know what you were watching, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching some other generic sci-fi show (Enterprise springs to mind here). It's much more blatantly sci-fi than SG1, which is a shame, because one of the best things about SG-1 was the fact that it was unique among sci-fi shows.
3) The Wraith are a cliched, over-dramatised enemy. Sorry, but the Goa'uld were an excellent enemy, because they were based on real-life ancient mythology and religion. The Wraith, meanwhile, are just... Weird. Plus, they look like over-enthusiastic Marliyn Manson fans.
I think the basic fact is that SG-1 was so grounded in reality, it was totlly different from any other sci-fi show. The villains were based on real ancient Earth mythology, the setting and technology were relatively realistic depictions of current military standing, and the aliens were generally inventive and original. Atlantis, though, seems like just another futuristic sci-fi show with over-elaborate costumes, weird-looking aliens and expensive SFX.
I'm not saying I disliked it - I actually enjoyed watching it, and it certainly beats most current sci-fi output - but compared to SG-1, it just seems like an over-ambitious little brother. I'm not dismissing it completely, certainly not this early in its lifespan, but as far as the overall concept is concerned, it just seems so desperate to outdo SG1 it ends up looking silly.
Oh, and one quick question (don't bother answering if it would mean spoiling the end of Season 7, since I missed the last couple of S7 eps) but why the big new team? Why didn't they just send an SG team through, or assemble a new one?
Anyway, overall I give it 7/10 so far. Not bad by any means, but certainly nowhere near as good as SG1 (but then, it has a lot to live up to).
1) The characters seem a bit bland and two-dimensional, and they all seem to have come from the Big Book of Sci-Fi Character Cliches. You've got the Strong-Willed Woman-in-Charge (Janeway, anyone?), the Hard-Jawed Military Guy (who sadly died), the Fresh-Faced Handsome Young Guy With a Troubled Past, the Nervous Scottish Bloke and the Geeky Scientist. Of course, it's only the fist episode, but there just wasn't the fantastic dialogue and character interaction seen in SG-1 between, say, Jack and Daniel, even in Children of the Gods. I was just aching for some of Jack's sarcastic remarks.
2) The whole show looks very futuristic. This was probably neccessary to seperate it from SG-1, but in my opinion it's getting rid of one of the best elements of SG-1 - the fact that it was (reasonably) believable, it took place in the here and now, with a relatively realistic setting. If you turned on Atlantis and you didn't know what you were watching, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were watching some other generic sci-fi show (Enterprise springs to mind here). It's much more blatantly sci-fi than SG1, which is a shame, because one of the best things about SG-1 was the fact that it was unique among sci-fi shows.
3) The Wraith are a cliched, over-dramatised enemy. Sorry, but the Goa'uld were an excellent enemy, because they were based on real-life ancient mythology and religion. The Wraith, meanwhile, are just... Weird. Plus, they look like over-enthusiastic Marliyn Manson fans.
I think the basic fact is that SG-1 was so grounded in reality, it was totlly different from any other sci-fi show. The villains were based on real ancient Earth mythology, the setting and technology were relatively realistic depictions of current military standing, and the aliens were generally inventive and original. Atlantis, though, seems like just another futuristic sci-fi show with over-elaborate costumes, weird-looking aliens and expensive SFX.
I'm not saying I disliked it - I actually enjoyed watching it, and it certainly beats most current sci-fi output - but compared to SG-1, it just seems like an over-ambitious little brother. I'm not dismissing it completely, certainly not this early in its lifespan, but as far as the overall concept is concerned, it just seems so desperate to outdo SG1 it ends up looking silly.
Oh, and one quick question (don't bother answering if it would mean spoiling the end of Season 7, since I missed the last couple of S7 eps) but why the big new team? Why didn't they just send an SG team through, or assemble a new one?
Anyway, overall I give it 7/10 so far. Not bad by any means, but certainly nowhere near as good as SG1 (but then, it has a lot to live up to).
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