Thursday, March 12, 2009

Dollhouse review - redux

I didn't really like my Dollhouse review in a previous post. I was writing it to send to a magazine and had spent the evening reading their style to try to copy it. Something that's never going to produce great work. While I still agree with the points I made it felt wooden and forced. It also utterly shat upon the 200 word limit I originally decided on. So I had another go; trying to be a little less stuffy and more concise. This is the one I sent in the end. 

//Dollhouse

Season one, episode one

 

Let’s be honest here: the Dollhouse may well be the biggest geek's wet dream since Star Trek's Holodeck. A secret organisation hiring out mind-wiped slaves called Dolls to the super rich, pre-programmed with the personality of their choosing. With Eliza Dushku's Echo leading the parade of pretty (vacant) young things it's not hard to imagine what Mister Wealthy Billionaire might get up to.

 

This only makes it harder to swallow when Echo’s assignment turns out to be hostage negotiation. Riiight. It’s a ludicrous leap of faith not helped by Dushku's thin performance of the forceful psychologist’s personality she’s been imprinted with (wear glasses, sound annoyed all the time) or the fact the script is never more than serviceable. Perfunctory dialogue is chewed though by lifeless, stereotypical characters with none of the sparkle or wit of creator Josh Whedon's previous efforts. A boxing montage used to emphasis just how much a cop won't back off, creates a spectacularly heavy-handed moment of exposition, slapped on so thick you could see it from space. The overall premise and hints of a larger story arc - as Echo's brain-dead shell becomes self-aware - are promising, but unless the series ups its game substantially there's little here to make this a must see.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment