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rj_andersonHm.
Well.
*thinks about this a bit*
Okay, let's just take it as given that my overall opinion of this story will depend largely on what I think of Part Two, but I am feeling kind of underwhelmed at the moment. Not exactly sure why, seeing as there were lots of cool ideas in it, and frockish stuff like the Doctor in a tux, and a Big Epic Crisis-type plot, and a fair share of Character Moments to keep it from being just a lot of fireworks and running around. And zeppelins, which, like Audrey Hepburn, are always tasteful and always in style. Well, except for that scarifyingly pointy bra she was wearing under her fetching tank-and-capri outfit near the end of Sabrina, which I seriously expected to put Humphrey Bogart's eye out at any moment (it didn't help that he's short) but unlike zeppelins don't tend to wear bras so I think we're okay on that one...
Er, where was I? Oh, yeah. "Rise of the Cybermen". Which did not have Audrey Hepburn in it, more's the pity. It did, however, have Noel Clarke in rather a fun dual role, and showing off his acting chops rather smashingly in that scene where Mickey is reunited with his alt-grandmother. I think I actually got a lump in my throat there. I was actually much more interested in Mickey's part of the plot than I was with the Doctor and Rose's, which... is kind of wrong. Isn't it? On the other hand, seeing that Rose apparently has the Doctor on a short leash, which grates exceedingly on this old-school Whovian, maybe not.
Whatsisface who played the creator of the Cybermen, who is only coincidentally reminiscent of Davros (since you know and I know, or at least I know anyway, that the only reason the actor was in that wheelchair is because he broke his leg before filming) chewed the scenery in an excessive and rather unconvincing manner. I am not sure that the Old Skool fanboys who have been grousing for the last two weeks about all the frockery and wuvviness going on and spoiling their show won't think that's just a fantastic throwback to the old series, though. I mean, once you can sit through Mordred laughing evilly in a very camp manner for approximately 20,000 years before anybody thought to shut off the cameras in "Battlefield", surely no amount of overacting can bother you any more.
Um, the new Cybermen look okay? Enough like the old ones to be recognizable, but new enough to be scary. Well, scary to somebody somewhere, I'm guessing. Kids maybe? I found myself rather unmoved. Pity, that the villains who were the originals of the Borg should be so thoroughly outshone by their Trekified imitation, but... yeah. The Borg were, at least before Star Trek did its usual thing and strip-mined all the inhumanity out of them, a much more effective employment of the concept. Not only because they didn't have an obvious leader that you could kill or control or otherwise get a handle on (well, at least not until they introduced the !@&*%# Borg Queen, but don't get me started or I'll never stop) but because parts of them were still recognizable as formerly human. Whereas the Cybermen look like... clunky metal suits.
I also think I can predict the resolution of this week's cliffhanger: the Cyberman (or -men) about to kill the Doctor will shut down suddenly because the processing of the human being inside was a rushed job and there are still glitches in the system. The Doctor, Rose and Pete, taking advantage of the brief respite, will run away into the night, la ti da. See, I'm not even in suspense for next week, and that is sad because the cliffhangers in classic Who were almost always the best part. Sigh.
You'd think from all this that I really hated the episode or something, but I didn't. It wasn't nearly as flawed as the early episodes of S1/S27, particularly "World War Three" which I found positively embarrassing and cringeworthy. I just... somehow... can't get up the energy to care that much about it one way or the other, and that's not exactly indicative of greatness, you know?
So there you have it.
Well.
*thinks about this a bit*
Okay, let's just take it as given that my overall opinion of this story will depend largely on what I think of Part Two, but I am feeling kind of underwhelmed at the moment. Not exactly sure why, seeing as there were lots of cool ideas in it, and frockish stuff like the Doctor in a tux, and a Big Epic Crisis-type plot, and a fair share of Character Moments to keep it from being just a lot of fireworks and running around. And zeppelins, which, like Audrey Hepburn, are always tasteful and always in style. Well, except for that scarifyingly pointy bra she was wearing under her fetching tank-and-capri outfit near the end of Sabrina, which I seriously expected to put Humphrey Bogart's eye out at any moment (it didn't help that he's short) but unlike zeppelins don't tend to wear bras so I think we're okay on that one...
Er, where was I? Oh, yeah. "Rise of the Cybermen". Which did not have Audrey Hepburn in it, more's the pity. It did, however, have Noel Clarke in rather a fun dual role, and showing off his acting chops rather smashingly in that scene where Mickey is reunited with his alt-grandmother. I think I actually got a lump in my throat there. I was actually much more interested in Mickey's part of the plot than I was with the Doctor and Rose's, which... is kind of wrong. Isn't it? On the other hand, seeing that Rose apparently has the Doctor on a short leash, which grates exceedingly on this old-school Whovian, maybe not.
Whatsisface who played the creator of the Cybermen, who is only coincidentally reminiscent of Davros (since you know and I know, or at least I know anyway, that the only reason the actor was in that wheelchair is because he broke his leg before filming) chewed the scenery in an excessive and rather unconvincing manner. I am not sure that the Old Skool fanboys who have been grousing for the last two weeks about all the frockery and wuvviness going on and spoiling their show won't think that's just a fantastic throwback to the old series, though. I mean, once you can sit through Mordred laughing evilly in a very camp manner for approximately 20,000 years before anybody thought to shut off the cameras in "Battlefield", surely no amount of overacting can bother you any more.
Um, the new Cybermen look okay? Enough like the old ones to be recognizable, but new enough to be scary. Well, scary to somebody somewhere, I'm guessing. Kids maybe? I found myself rather unmoved. Pity, that the villains who were the originals of the Borg should be so thoroughly outshone by their Trekified imitation, but... yeah. The Borg were, at least before Star Trek did its usual thing and strip-mined all the inhumanity out of them, a much more effective employment of the concept. Not only because they didn't have an obvious leader that you could kill or control or otherwise get a handle on (well, at least not until they introduced the !@&*%# Borg Queen, but don't get me started or I'll never stop) but because parts of them were still recognizable as formerly human. Whereas the Cybermen look like... clunky metal suits.
I also think I can predict the resolution of this week's cliffhanger: the Cyberman (or -men) about to kill the Doctor will shut down suddenly because the processing of the human being inside was a rushed job and there are still glitches in the system. The Doctor, Rose and Pete, taking advantage of the brief respite, will run away into the night, la ti da. See, I'm not even in suspense for next week, and that is sad because the cliffhangers in classic Who were almost always the best part. Sigh.
You'd think from all this that I really hated the episode or something, but I didn't. It wasn't nearly as flawed as the early episodes of S1/S27, particularly "World War Three" which I found positively embarrassing and cringeworthy. I just... somehow... can't get up the energy to care that much about it one way or the other, and that's not exactly indicative of greatness, you know?
So there you have it.
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Date: 2006-05-14 03:42 am (UTC)Er, yes. See, this is why you're awesome: I'm looking at the shininess (and Noel Clarke in his daks) while you're seeing the problems that lie not so far beneath the surface, that I was half-aware of but unable to articulate.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 04:06 am (UTC)My theory is that it is not an alternate Earth like they think, but our Earth apres Torchwood and the lupine Queen Victoria. I don't know how that will work, since Torchwood also showed up in The Christmas Invasion, but like most plot holes this season I am sure RTD will put a pretty frock on it and tapdance madly in hopes I will not notice the inconsistencies. (But Russell, darling, I always do. It's just sometimes I'm more inclined to be forgiving because you did better with the rest of the episode.)
I enjoyed last season so much (and was more forgiving of the low points) but this year I feel more, I don't know, cranky about it.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 06:51 am (UTC)And the conversion sequence was utterly horrific thanks to the In The Jungle touch.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-16 02:09 am (UTC)I came away from this episode with the same kind of blah about it. There were good bits, but the Cybermen weren't as chilling as they were meant to be and that last bit with "DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!" just sounded too Dalek-derivative and out of character. They didn't shout "Delete!" three times before killing the President or anybody else in the story. I mean, the Daleks look totally dorky too, but the crew managed to do some first-rate chilling updates (e.g. floating up stairs, taking out a whole battalion alone, flying in space and flashing "EX-TERM-IN-ATE!" syllables silently through the space station's glass). The Cybermen, while they look indestructible and march convincingly in synch, don't really get to me. I feel sorry for the homeless guys, but not really scared by the Lurching Big Shinies.
The Doctor will escape this one unscathed, so no worries there, and thus I don't feel that compelled by it. If I thought they were setting him up for a loss, maybe I'd care. I like Mickey, but I'm not going to be that distraught when he leaves, and it doesn't seem like the Doctor will either. I don't like the way that the Doctor seems so willing to go running after Rose all the time. I never thought she was a great match for him (though she's fun and has spunk), so their relationship doesn't pull me at all, especially after seeing TGITF and seeing how Rose just couldn't compare to Mme. de Pompadour, etc. At best, she's an daughter/friend sort of character now, and watching her realize that and get progressively more soured by it isn't much fun.
If your 11th Doctor stories' theory is correct, then the Doctor keeps picking up all these human female companions for a reason, wondering: "Is she the one?" and then feeling rather protective of them, even when they don't seem to be turning out right. But still, where's the imperiousness? The aloofness? Why's he getting to be so weak and needy and running after her instead of the reverse?
Those are the bigger questions that I'm interested in them answering. Not this "how awkwardly can we wrangle a Olde Big Bad back into our shiny new series?" thing.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-16 08:38 am (UTC)Ana.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-16 11:37 am (UTC)