As someone who's been completely immersed in the new BSG, it comes as a great disappointment to say that RAZOR was almost a total letdown. Watching this show spiral into self-indulgence (Ron, enough with the messiah and "chosen one" crap already. We had to put up with it on DS9 and it's now being rammed down our throats on BSG) in its third season has been a real bummer. In the first two seasons, BSG was one of THE MOST RELEVANT shows on television in any genre. It forced us to look at ourselves in a time of national crisis and made us ask difficult questions, namely - How far are we willing to go to protect our way of life? Unfortunately, the wacky obsession of one of the show's creators and pressure from the network to crank out stand-alone episodes in season 3 has BSG circling the drain.
**SPOILERS**
All in all, RAZOR is a major disappointment. The plot is both completely contrived and lacks any kind of focus, with a structure that is more than a little fragmented. The plotting is scattershot, with non-revelatory flashbacks to the Pegasus just after the initial Cylon attack intercut with poorly written and realized scenes on the "present day" Galactica and Pegasus.
We're introduced to Kendra, a recently arrived lieutenant on the Pegasus who becomes something of a protégé to Admiral Cane. The flashbacks show Kendra's "trial by fire" in the moments after the attack. Scenes that take place in the "present day" (their choice of words) contain painfully clunky expository dialogue to fill in the blanks. It's a clumsy device that even a novice screenwriter will recognize as more than a little obvious.
Razor follows Kendra as she watches Cane commit atrocities in the name of keeping the fight going. Then, Kendra slowly begins to fall under Cane's spell and is soon participating in these barbaric acts.
In the "present day", we see Kendra brood over her actions. Did she do the right thing? Was Cane a strong commander or a madwoman? A little bit of IV drug use helps her forget.
The film felt like it was put together from leftovers of previously shot scenes and sequences that ended up on the cutting room floor. Kendra is NEVER in a scene with Bill Adama or the President. Mostly, she's shot in close-ups or two-shots with Lee Adama, making one think that short, cheap filler scenes were shot in order to tie together fragments of pre-existing scenes/sequences. Was somebody tasked with finding a way to use old scenes?
The script is something of a failure and is loaded with the kinds of contrivances overused by rookie writers. We've got the malfunctioning bomb timer, the clichéd, metaphor-rich speech "We all have to be razors!" and the appearance of yet another 6 to expose Cane's "special relationship" as sheer manipulation. The inclusion of the clunky 80s "tin man" Cylons was simply lame.
The story ends with more tired "chosen one" BS from a cylon-human hybrid who somehow possesses omniscient knowledge of mankind's fate and Kara's special destiny.
The only revelation in all of this is the actress who played Kendra. Stephanie Chaves- Jacobsen is simply frickin' (not fracking) hot! She's got a unique, sultry look her striking face was the only thing that kept me watching.
It's a real shame that BSG has devolved from a carefully rendered, thought-provoking, politically relevant series into mere violent, pseudo-spiritual, sci-fi eye candy. Sure, I'll watch every single episode of the final season, but my hopes ain't high.
**SPOILERS**
All in all, RAZOR is a major disappointment. The plot is both completely contrived and lacks any kind of focus, with a structure that is more than a little fragmented. The plotting is scattershot, with non-revelatory flashbacks to the Pegasus just after the initial Cylon attack intercut with poorly written and realized scenes on the "present day" Galactica and Pegasus.
We're introduced to Kendra, a recently arrived lieutenant on the Pegasus who becomes something of a protégé to Admiral Cane. The flashbacks show Kendra's "trial by fire" in the moments after the attack. Scenes that take place in the "present day" (their choice of words) contain painfully clunky expository dialogue to fill in the blanks. It's a clumsy device that even a novice screenwriter will recognize as more than a little obvious.
Razor follows Kendra as she watches Cane commit atrocities in the name of keeping the fight going. Then, Kendra slowly begins to fall under Cane's spell and is soon participating in these barbaric acts.
In the "present day", we see Kendra brood over her actions. Did she do the right thing? Was Cane a strong commander or a madwoman? A little bit of IV drug use helps her forget.
The film felt like it was put together from leftovers of previously shot scenes and sequences that ended up on the cutting room floor. Kendra is NEVER in a scene with Bill Adama or the President. Mostly, she's shot in close-ups or two-shots with Lee Adama, making one think that short, cheap filler scenes were shot in order to tie together fragments of pre-existing scenes/sequences. Was somebody tasked with finding a way to use old scenes?
The script is something of a failure and is loaded with the kinds of contrivances overused by rookie writers. We've got the malfunctioning bomb timer, the clichéd, metaphor-rich speech "We all have to be razors!" and the appearance of yet another 6 to expose Cane's "special relationship" as sheer manipulation. The inclusion of the clunky 80s "tin man" Cylons was simply lame.
The story ends with more tired "chosen one" BS from a cylon-human hybrid who somehow possesses omniscient knowledge of mankind's fate and Kara's special destiny.
The only revelation in all of this is the actress who played Kendra. Stephanie Chaves- Jacobsen is simply frickin' (not fracking) hot! She's got a unique, sultry look her striking face was the only thing that kept me watching.
It's a real shame that BSG has devolved from a carefully rendered, thought-provoking, politically relevant series into mere violent, pseudo-spiritual, sci-fi eye candy. Sure, I'll watch every single episode of the final season, but my hopes ain't high.