The apotheosis of violent death uncluttered by consequence.
Movies, films, TV seem to present an unreal version of life.
First we expect movies to make sense (we want to see everything that tells the story like the viewer was some kind of omniscient observer). Real life is rather less obvious than this.
Second no one stops to wee, eat, drink, rest, pay bills... this also covers strange continuity errors like at the end of Resurrection p2 where the Doctor and Stien arrive at the Dalek ship, Stien gets a gun from storage while the Doctor wrests a laser gun off the attacking guard. Stien levels his gun at the Doctor, makes his revelation, two Daleks glide in. Suddenly the Doctor is unarmed and Stien has both guns. The disarm shot is removed?
And third no characters react to extraordinary events in ordinary ways. The body count in Resurrection is approximately 60. There are a few incidents which can be argued either way e.g. shooting the escaped Dalek creature in the warehouse. Not even once does anyone seem to stop and react like even one of these deaths is a tragedy or is shocking or should result in calling the police or an ambulance. The nearest we get to this are a few brief shots of moving the bodies out of the way (on the space station...)
This is well directed. The shots are thoughtful and atmospheric. The action is fast paced (though hamstrung by the multicamera studio look.) The lighting and sets are moody and efffective. (Some of the background flats are reused from Warriors of the Deep but the lighting makes it look quite different. BTW extensive use is made of forklift pallets and moulded plastic gratings)
Acting is good, apart from some over the top death scenes.
Malcolm Clarke's fourth incidental music soundtrack is sounding amazing and has moments of subtlety. (Coming from a start that is 'The Sea Devils' that is little short of amazing.)
The main problem is the plot. It's a giant loop that gets back to where it started. At the end of the 4 (or is it 2 ?) episodes:
- the mysterious alien objects in the warehouse are still there and unexplained.
- the Time Corridor is still there and its origin and purpose unexplained.
- The Daleks are still in disarray.
- Davros is still mostly dead but not completely.
- Lots of soldiers and police and space doods have been wasted but they don't matter much (see 'third' above).
- Tegan is gone.
The strange scene in p3 where the Daleks demand the Doctor attack the Time Lords on Gallifrey is outrageous, mostly because after the Doctor says no, the demand gets completely ignored for the rest of the show. (Maybe the Daleks are conflicted themselves?)
Resurrection is like a violence manga. It doesn't hurt but it's not a story. It's a string of violent set pieces put together in a slick way. It has little actual meaning or significance.
ABM Rating 2.26/4.00
LJM Rating 3.69/5.00
SPJ Rating 5.15/10
No. 85 (out of 133)
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