No Comic Day
Jul. 30th, 2008 05:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6Because I'm holding off the one comic I was going to get (newuniversal: 1959 one shot) until next week.
So instead, I'll talk about Stargate: Continuum, now that it's officially released. (Spoilers behind cuts)
Overall, it was okay, but felt too much like "just another episode" syndrome. No 'big'ness. In fact, it felt just like an episode that had already been done.
Oh, not exactly, certainly, but in basic beats it felt like Moebius - time travel changes history into one where the SG program never existed, and the new timeline doesn't want to change it but they have to anyway when things go really bad.
And, of course, everything's put right in the end, a big giant reset button. I know that's kind of par for the course of this kind of plot, but it would have been cool to be surprised... I tolerate the reset button on average episodes of the show, but for a movie I wanted something bigger. And even so, usually Stargate's been good about _not_ entirely pushing the reset button, and having episodes that normally wouldn't have consequences, have consequences and impact later down the line (like Daniel in an alternative reality gives them the coordinates to a previously unknown oncoming attack, or the time travel to 1969 gives them the whole means to time travel in later episodes and particularly one set in the future where they have to undo a big mistake in the 'present', and even Moebius provided them with a ZPM at the end of it). So to have this movie have almost no consequences (aside from Baal's death which was expected at the beginning anyway) feels kind of weak.
Also, I know that the climax has to be a big battle, but I was wondering why TrappedInThePastCam didn't just do the smart thing and, instead of having a team ready to shoot Baal and co, just have an iris/coverstone thing attached so that Baal and his troops would go splat. I mean, he had 20 years to think up how to do it. Maybe after that long he just wanted to shoot something again.
There was one element I really really liked, and actually dovetailed into a little plot seed I'd sorta been playing with (in my frequent "I SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE FOR STARGATE" phases), although they didn't give it enough time or play, IMHO.
That is, Baal's speech about how you can't come to Earth as conquerers, but if you treat them nicely and make them think you're good guys, they'll do anything for you. Unfortunately, he got killed before he even started to put his plan into action, but still. I always had this idea, even before Baal (but Baal does work perfectly for it, and I kind of hope he had a secret clone stashed somewhere because it's too good to waste), of Earth coming into contact with a 'good Goauld'. Not a Tok'ra, but a Goauld who is still technically evil, but is smarter than average and figured out that if you act like a good guy and make people love you, you can get a lot more done, so he'd secretly gone and built a progressive liberal, hi-tech society with no slavery, that the other System Lords didn't know about, and perfectly willing to collaborate with Earth against the others, hiding his evilness for the most part (except in situations where it's perfectly safe to be bad), and making them all wonder, raise a few questions on the nature of good and evil. The type of people who can smile and smile and be a villain behind the mask. Kind of like a lot of Kings throughout history, really. Sort of fitting in with that idea that sociopathy can occasionally fit in and go unnoticed, and _not even be harmful_ in certain contexts, like corporate life, because there they can be successful by following the 'rules of the game'.
I would have loved to see this idea explored a little in the alternate universe, if they had time, but they didn't because Baal got stabbed after making the speech but before trying it out, and now that the character's been deBaaled he won't be pursuing any grand plans. (Yes, I just wanted an excuse to use that phrase).
I suppose, theoretically, you could say that Baal had a backup plan even beyond everything else, which would make perfect sense - knowing that the symbiote would be removed eventually from his body, he found a way to make the host body contain his memories and personality even without the symbiote. So remove the symbiote, he acts all nice and bewildered and lays low until he can make another move. Maybe even doing sort of what Vala did, pretending to be 'repenting' and wanting to help, and giving a chance to have him demonstrate that superior plan about not using fear and blatant subjugation. That would give the actor something to do in future movies, and could be a cool 'surprise' moment. Because Baal is the evil Batman, always having contingencies. I SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE FOR STARGATE.
So instead, I'll talk about Stargate: Continuum, now that it's officially released. (Spoilers behind cuts)
Overall, it was okay, but felt too much like "just another episode" syndrome. No 'big'ness. In fact, it felt just like an episode that had already been done.
Oh, not exactly, certainly, but in basic beats it felt like Moebius - time travel changes history into one where the SG program never existed, and the new timeline doesn't want to change it but they have to anyway when things go really bad.
And, of course, everything's put right in the end, a big giant reset button. I know that's kind of par for the course of this kind of plot, but it would have been cool to be surprised... I tolerate the reset button on average episodes of the show, but for a movie I wanted something bigger. And even so, usually Stargate's been good about _not_ entirely pushing the reset button, and having episodes that normally wouldn't have consequences, have consequences and impact later down the line (like Daniel in an alternative reality gives them the coordinates to a previously unknown oncoming attack, or the time travel to 1969 gives them the whole means to time travel in later episodes and particularly one set in the future where they have to undo a big mistake in the 'present', and even Moebius provided them with a ZPM at the end of it). So to have this movie have almost no consequences (aside from Baal's death which was expected at the beginning anyway) feels kind of weak.
Also, I know that the climax has to be a big battle, but I was wondering why TrappedInThePastCam didn't just do the smart thing and, instead of having a team ready to shoot Baal and co, just have an iris/coverstone thing attached so that Baal and his troops would go splat. I mean, he had 20 years to think up how to do it. Maybe after that long he just wanted to shoot something again.
There was one element I really really liked, and actually dovetailed into a little plot seed I'd sorta been playing with (in my frequent "I SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE FOR STARGATE" phases), although they didn't give it enough time or play, IMHO.
That is, Baal's speech about how you can't come to Earth as conquerers, but if you treat them nicely and make them think you're good guys, they'll do anything for you. Unfortunately, he got killed before he even started to put his plan into action, but still. I always had this idea, even before Baal (but Baal does work perfectly for it, and I kind of hope he had a secret clone stashed somewhere because it's too good to waste), of Earth coming into contact with a 'good Goauld'. Not a Tok'ra, but a Goauld who is still technically evil, but is smarter than average and figured out that if you act like a good guy and make people love you, you can get a lot more done, so he'd secretly gone and built a progressive liberal, hi-tech society with no slavery, that the other System Lords didn't know about, and perfectly willing to collaborate with Earth against the others, hiding his evilness for the most part (except in situations where it's perfectly safe to be bad), and making them all wonder, raise a few questions on the nature of good and evil. The type of people who can smile and smile and be a villain behind the mask. Kind of like a lot of Kings throughout history, really. Sort of fitting in with that idea that sociopathy can occasionally fit in and go unnoticed, and _not even be harmful_ in certain contexts, like corporate life, because there they can be successful by following the 'rules of the game'.
I would have loved to see this idea explored a little in the alternate universe, if they had time, but they didn't because Baal got stabbed after making the speech but before trying it out, and now that the character's been deBaaled he won't be pursuing any grand plans. (Yes, I just wanted an excuse to use that phrase).
I suppose, theoretically, you could say that Baal had a backup plan even beyond everything else, which would make perfect sense - knowing that the symbiote would be removed eventually from his body, he found a way to make the host body contain his memories and personality even without the symbiote. So remove the symbiote, he acts all nice and bewildered and lays low until he can make another move. Maybe even doing sort of what Vala did, pretending to be 'repenting' and wanting to help, and giving a chance to have him demonstrate that superior plan about not using fear and blatant subjugation. That would give the actor something to do in future movies, and could be a cool 'surprise' moment. Because Baal is the evil Batman, always having contingencies. I SHOULD TOTALLY WRITE FOR STARGATE.
