Remake is ‘Lost’ in pace, and beyond
“Lost in Space” is a barely adequate space drama with an unfortunate title. Why? Because some viewers would expect at least more links to the classic 1965 show of the same name than merely borrowing the basic setup and leaving the campy fun of the original on the shelf.
The remake’s 10-episode first season is available for streaming on Netflix on Friday, April 13.
Irwin Allen, the master of popular fare such as the disaster films “The Poseidon Adventure” and “The Towering Inferno,” created the original in 1965, with theme music by John Williams, based on the classic family adventure yarn, “The Swiss Family Robinson.” Instead of having the Robinson family shipwrecked on a deserted island, Allen had the bright idea to have them “Lost in Space.”
Like another TV classic of the ’60s, “Star Trek,” “Lost” leavened the drama of battling aliens with tongue in cheek humor that became instant camp. “Danger, Will Robinson” wasn’t necessarily meant to be funny when uttered by the rotund Robot, but immediately found its way into common usage as a conversational punch line. The sets looked as realistic as something you’d see in a department store window and the special effects worked because they weren’t very special at all.
The new “Lost” plays it straight, which would be fine if only the characters and story were as engaging as the slick
and seamless special effects. The Robinson family, plus one chicken, are aboard a spaceship seeking a new life on another world, when they crash-land on an icy, forbidding planet. Within seconds, the heat of the ship causes it to sink beneath the surface of melting ice. The family is not only stranded, but all of their supplies are aboard the spaceship.
Daughter Judy (Taylor Russell) impetuously dives through the ice to get to the ship before the ice freezes over again, but she’s too late and the family is unable to pull her back to safety. She has enough oxygen for now and her space suit will keep her from freezing to death for a while, but the Robinsons are having little luck hacking through the ice until the youngest Robinson, precocious Will (Maxwell Jenkins), encounters Robot, who helps Judy escape. Instead of looking like a steelcoated Michelin man, the new Robot is totally ripped and has kind of a streetlamp where his face should be. It turns colors, like a mood ring.
In addition to Judy and Will, the family includes parents John (Toby Stephens) and Maureen (Molly Parker), and daughter Penny (Mina Sundwall), whose role is to make snarky commentary on whatever the rest of the family is up to at any given time. Penny’s burns are the closest the show comes to the humor of the original show, but it’s not close at all. Mostly, it’s annoying and phony.
Meanwhile, back at the space station, things are falling apart fast. One woman steals the ID badge from an injured man. His name is Dr. Z. Smith. He is played by Bill Mumy, who not only used to be Billy Mumy and the original Will Robinson but was perhaps the most ubiquitous kid actor on TV in the ’60s and is still working today. Mumy gives the show momentary cred.
The fake Dr. Smith is played by Parker Posey, who hitches a ride to safety with an interplanetary smuggler named Don West (Ignacio Serricchio). They crash-land as well on the same planet as the Robinsons.
The series, created by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, is built on an episodic structure as the Robinsons face a weekly challenge trying to get off the planet. One day, the fuel supply is being consumed by unknown forces. Another day, Don West and Judy Robinson team up to keep another ship from falling into an abyss just long enough to siphon fuel from it. Another time, Will’s friendship with the Robot is tested.
The writers have laudable intentions when it comes to empowering the series’ female characters. Maureen is an aerospace engineer and far smarter than her husband, which creates tension in their marriage. Maureen has to pretend at one point that she can’t do it all so her dolt of a husband doesn’t feel like a dolt of a husband.
Judy is traumatized for a long time after she’s defrosted by the Robot, but with time, she regains personal courage and determination. And Dr. Smith, who isn’t even the woman she pretended to be when she mugged the real Dr. Smith and stole his identity, is an amoral criminal, but being around the Robinsons, who value family above all else, causes some humanity to seep into the fake doctor’s personality.
The show is watchable, but mostly for the special effects. The scripts are plodding and formulaic and the direction consistently flabby. The series is marked by what could be termed a suspension of suspense in most episodes, meandering around until “Danger, Will Robinson,” and then the special effects do their thing.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with remaking a show from more than 50 years ago, keeping some of the elements but making it a more serious drama. There is something wrong when it’s not very interesting. If the show had no links whatsoever to Irwin Allen’s original, it would be considered exactly what it is: a modest sci-fi drama that could have been better with sharper scripts and stepping up the pace of the direction.
By the way, Tim Cook at least will be pleased to know that by 2046, civilization will have advanced in many areas, but people still use smartphones.