Review: Skyland / Skyland, Le Nouveau Monde (2006)

Sometimes, a TV series can have a lot of potential but be lumbered with poor execution, so poor in fact that you can't help but start noticing its flaws. The kids' SF series, 'Skyland', is one of these series.

Set in the future, when Earth has been blown up into lots of small floating islands, the plot revolves around two teenagers, Mahad and Lena, who have special powers. After their mother, Mila, is captured by an oppressive organization called The Sphere, the kids flee and become the crew of a flying rebel or pirate ship (it's not quite clear to me) captained by Aran. Their subsequent adventures revolve around flying to different islands to get support against the Sphere or escaping the Sphere's robot minions.

At first glance, the animation, using motion capture, is fluid, the backgrounds are detailed and gorgeous, and I have a soft spot for sky pirates, so it should have been easy to enjoy the series. What started to spoil it for me is the inane introductory voice-over at the start of each episode, which plainly contradicts what is on screen. Things that I usually overlook begin to grate. Why is there still air if there's no gravity? Why are all the islands oriented the same way? Why is there night if there's no body to block the sun? Argh! By the third episode, I got so annoyed that I just stopped watching.

0 out of 5 stars.

Review: Life on Mars (American) (2008)

Started well enough with stories based on the original British version, but went downhill quickly. The writers couldn't decide how Tyler's hallucinations should manifest, so they chose whatever prop was convenient, which diminished his fear and made him almost look forward to them. They also made it a device to move the plot forward once too often, like 'Medium', instead of keeping it mysterious and leaving us to wonder if Tyler was really in a coma or just mad.

Another big difference with the original series is the power dynamic between Sam Tyler and his boss, Lieutenant Gene Hunt. In the original series, Tyler was second-in-command, so Hunt had to tolerate him and the other detectives had to at least follow his orders. In this series, Tyler is just another detective, so why doesn't tough-guy Hunt just side-line or transfer him?

Other problem: Harvey Keitel, a great actor, is badly miscast Gene Hunt; he's simply too old to be running around bashing heads in.

2 out of 5 stars.