LOST IN SPACE
Release Date: April 3, 1998 Starring: William Hurt, Gary Oldman, Heather Graham, Matt LeBlanc, Mimi Rogers, Lacey Chabert, Jack Johnson Directed by: Stephen Hopkins Distributed by: New Line Cinema MPAA Rating: PG-13 (some intense sci-fi action) URL: http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio/reviews/1998/lostinspace.htm
Similar to 1997's STARSHIP TROOPERS, LOST IN SPACE is a story told to and written for the lowest common denominator of movie going audiences. Although TROOPERS was undoubtedly written for a more adult demographic (although the intelligence level was just as undoubtedly no higher), LOST IN SPACE starts off as and remains throughout a graphically- enhanced comic book. The flat characters and cringe-enducing dialogue are trademarks of a medium that tells stories in jerky segments and plays to ignorance and suspension of belief. While this latest sci-fi action flick may be a step up from that, it retains some of the more undesirable aspects.
A kickback from the baby boomer days, LOST IN SPACE has to hope for the curiosity of adults and the willingness of adolescents to pay to see mind-blowing visuals and sound. Much as THE FIFTH ELEMENT (surprisingly, another Gary Oldman-is-the-antagonist film) did, this movie presents an awesome array of colors, lights, and sounds in one continuous stream; the producers expect the audience to sit back and say "wow." Just like the THE FIFTH ELEMENT, there is probably an Academy Award nomination in the future for LOST IN SPACE, but its on-screen tenacity will garner it nothing more than a Best Sound Editing or Best Visual Special Effects nomination. The cast and story are not nearly as good.
Written by Akiva Goldsman, who has penned the last two BATMAN features and also the upcoming SUPERMAN LIVES, the story is definitely the worst part of LOST IN SPACE. It takes the Robinson family (headed up by respectable performances from William Hurt as the father and Heather Graham as the twentysomething daughter) off of Earth with the planned destination of a planet that will hold Earthlings in the future. Because Earth's life as a hospitable planet is limited, and humanity has only discovered one other possible home in the galaxy, this is the final shot. (Fitting, in mankind's current mega-consumptive mindset, that the story tells us Earthlings have only twenty years left.) No thanks to a stowaway (Gary Oldman), though, the Robinsons' ship is sent hurtling towards the sun. In a last minute attempt to escape, they hit the hyperdrive and careen into regions unknown.
There are only two or three really likeable performances in the bunch. William Hurt has power and gravity on-screen, but often it gets channeled into horrible lines that detract from his character's value. His attempted conversations at family values are particularly belittling, both to the character and to the movie. Matt LeBlanc, who plays the pilot assigned to the Robinsons' spaceship, is the best as the arrogant fighter jock with a bag full of sarcastic lines. Heather Graham is also good, although her young age lends a certain questionability to her role; also, her cold shoulder to the constant come-ons of LeBlanc, like LeBlanc's character himself, get old fast. The rest of the cast play stereotype cardboard cut-outs. Director Stephen Hopkins, who directs another misfired action thriller here (after BLOWN AWAY), can't keep everything under control and some scenes are just plain ridiculous (like Jack Johnson having a conversation with a robot about 'forgetting logic'). Mostly full of groaners, but still, the movie manages to come out mediocre.
FINAL AWARD FOR "LOST IN SPACE": 2.0 stars - a fair movie.
-- Craig Roush kinnopio@execpc.com -- Kinnopio's Movie Reviews http://www.execpc.com/~kinnopio
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