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ITT: I review Netflix's Space Force
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:04 PM Author: I stand with XII. I stand for Free Speech. (Hayden van Persie tp) Space Force starts off flat, sputters toward a lift off at points, but ultimately fails to launch.
Space Force attempts to be equal parts drama and comedy, and largely fails at both. It follows General Mark Naird (Steve Carrell), who opens the series with a promotion to 4-Star General and appointment to Commander of the Space Force, as he attempts to guide a largely inept (but astronomically lucky) military branch while simultaneously navigating relationships with his wife, daughter, and colleagues.
There is a distracting lack of chemistry between Carrell and Lisa Kudrow, who plays Naird's wife Maggie. Kudrow's character in general is incredibly poorly written, and Kudrow herself fails to get the most out of the character. We see none of the charisma that she showed during her run on Friends. The chemistry between them in the first few episodes is so off that it feels intentional, as though we are supposed to see how unhappy and out of love she really is. But the tone of Maggie's feelings toward Mark changes seemingly without any explanation later on.
Early in the series she is sent to prison. We are never told why - only that she's looking at a 40 to 60 year term. This is a massive plot point that is never addressed. What crime could the middle-aged wife of a top general have committed that she is sent to prison for what is essentially a life sentence, but that would not have affected the career of the general himself? Further, and without getting into spoilers, Maggie's plot arc defies belief and does not leave me hopeful for a redeeming second season.
With Space Force, we see Hollywood's contempt for Donald Trump and the military that he commands. Trump is never referenced by name during the series; rather, the President is referred to only as POTUS. "POTUS" is incredibly temperamental and frequently allows meddling at the highest rungs of the military command. In one episode, Space Force is ordered to substitute rocket fuel with "Skinny Fuel," some sort of private-company entrepreneurial breakthrough that is pitched by a pretty blonde (Kaitlin Olson). In another episode, FLOTUS wants to change the uniforms of Space Force to be more fashion forward. The Secretary of Defense is a civilian attorney with no military experience, and the commanders of the other branches serve only to deliver cliched one-liners. The lone exception to this is the commander of the Air Force and Naird's chief rival, who is somewhat more fleshed out.
The success and operations of Space Force defy reason. The branch is woefully behind China in the race to militarize space, and in one episode has even lost a technology race to India. Any success that the Force has is in spite of itself. There is clear tension between "military" and "science," although Naird and Dr. Mallory (John Malkovich) play well off of each other. This is one of few redeeming qualities in the show.
It cannot be overstated how inept Space Force is made out to be, and how clueless the writers actually are when it comes to U.S. Military capability and operations. The goal for Space Force is to put a colony on the moon by 2024. When it is discovered that China has already put a colony there - something that the U.S. had no intelligence on - the plans are accelerated and they literally pull a group of blue-collar civilian workers together without any training or vetting and launch them into space. They are lead by a helicopter captain who equally has no experience whatsoever in space.
The ending of the first season is an utter shitshow. I honestly cannot think of a worse way to end a season than what they went with.
The show had some positive qualities. Naird is a man under constant and immense stress, and I felt they could have done more with that. Naird's relationship with his daughter is fractured in a very believable way, and her reactions to the situation she finds herself in feel authentic, which leads to a natural source of tension. Carrell and Malkovich work well together. Tawny Newsome, who plays the Space Force captain, has natural charisma and some good moments (although they imply romantic feelings between her and one of the scientists, and it doesn't work at all).
Overall, 2/5 Stars. Not sure I will follow it into a second season. |
Date: July 10th, 2020 3:05 PM Author: I stand with XII. I stand for Free Speech. (Hayden van Persie tp) One other thought. I think that Steve Carrell was not a good choice to play Mark Naird. They needed someone who is a bit more buttoned up. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4580974&forum_id=2#40581370) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:06 PM Author: ;..;.;;;.;;.;.;.;;;.;;;.;.;;;....;. That doesn't shitlib at all, just a bad show. I was under the impression that this was really shitlib (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4580974&forum_id=2#40581379) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:13 PM Author: Guy Debord Haven't seen it. I would guess that all of the truly competent people are women and/or minorities. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4580974&forum_id=2#40581418) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:16 PM Author: I stand with XII. I stand for Free Speech. (Hayden van Persie tp) There is a heavy dose of this, yes. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4580974&forum_id=2#40581435) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:16 PM Author: I stand with XII. I stand for Free Speech. (Hayden van Persie tp) The funny thing about your comment is that terrible professional reviews you may have seen basically focus on that point: it doesn't shit on the President enough. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4580974&forum_id=2#40581434) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:07 PM Author: ,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,;,,.,.,.,.,., > Early in the series she is sent to prison. We are never told why - only that she's looking at a 40 to 60 year term.
lol what? they never say why? that's ridiculous. |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:17 PM Author: I stand with XII. I stand for Free Speech. (Hayden van Persie tp) Yes, and I actually looked it up to see if I missed it. Apparently the creative team thought it would be better just to leave it in the air. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4580974&forum_id=2#40581441) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:38 PM Author: (*_*)//(^_^)\\\\(*_*)______(\'~\') It just isn't funny. The jokes are predictable and tired. Sad waste of time for Carrell and Malkovich. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4580974&forum_id=2#40581603) |
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Date: July 10th, 2020 3:39 PM Author: north atlantid (luis) Carrell hasn't really been in anything good since the late 2000s (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4580974&forum_id=2#40581609) |