I've just seen the Stargate Atlantis pilot and boy, is it a disappointment. The series may be good or bad, I can't tell from the pilot; but the pilot itself has been absolutely fumbled from the dramatic point of view.
The whole thing is rushed. Not packed - rushed.
There are so many points that either could've been developed in so much more depth or dropped. As it is, they just come up and are dealt with in the shortest possible time - no drama, no build-up, no denouement, just visually recited, as dry as a translated legal document.
- The whole concept of characters being introduced one by one and each one getting twenty seconds to establish character is flawed. Please, just start in media res! Indeed, the only real justification for ever doing it the other way would be if you're showing the status quo ante for contrast. Here, you aren't. Just cut the whole Antarctic sequence and start the story at the point where they step through the gate.
Quite apart from the dramatic aspect, there's the practical reason: the actors haven't got a handle on their respective characters at that point, so how can they establish them?
- While we're in Antarctica, please don't show the drones. In SG1: Lost City, the weapon was a mysterious Ancient mechanism. Here, it looks like a dead squid. It's as bad as the midichlorians.
- Having the weapon attack the helicopter was again rushed. It just happened and then just stopped, with no reason, no drama, and no follow-through. Either spend a lot more time on it or cut it.
- The rush continues on the other side of the gate. They discover so many things, but there's no sense of wonder - there's no time for it.
Whole episodes' worth of discovery are distilled into clipped military-style reports, because there's no time to show them. Even at best, the action is limited to walking up to a machine and immediately knowing how to use it.
- In particular, meeting the W was rushed. In Alien, we spend the whole film never seeing more than a glimpse of the title character. Here we get a full-face view within minutes. Alien worked. This doesn't.
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