Dark Angel - The Complete First Season

Rating:
Summary: People actually like this?
Review: (Yes, I expect a bunch of negative helpful ratings like everyone else who gave this show 1 or 2 stars. I guess some fans can't accept opinions that differ from their own.)

After getting into Buffy the Vampire Slayer this past year, I was anxious to find another show that was similar to it. Assuming this would be just as good as Buffy, I bought it (without ever watching an episode before) for $20. Big mistake, although I'm thankful that I bought it for a sale price instead of shelling out $40+ bucks for something this bad. I guess you could say it was a stupid decision, but I've done the same for other shows that I eventually went on to enjoy. Now, this review won't be completely fair since I've only seen 12 episodes (even though I've had the DVD set for two months), but I'll review by what I've seen so far. The fact that I find it painful to sit through an episode should be an indicator of Dark Angel's quality. In comparison, I watched 144 episodes of Buffy in one month, while it's taken me 2 months just to watch 12 episodes of Dark Angel.

The biggest problem with DA seems to be the horrid acting, and the even worse dialogue. It seems like the writers were trying way too hard to make this show "extra-hip and cool", but it just comes across as lame and embarassing. They even have guest appearances from people like Master P and Mack 10, which continues to show that the creators favor hipness over acting ability. The main character Max (played by Jessica Alba of course) seems to do nothing but spout off lame lingo. She'll have serious discussions every once in awhile to advance the plot, but most of the time her dialogue consists of nothing but annoying phrases such as "I gotta Blaze!" (actually, I believe she says that at least once in every episode). The way Alba delivers her lines makes it all the more annoying. For the people that haven't seen the show, here's an example of some of the "brilliant" dialogue you'll find in the show:
Random peeper: "I'm sorry Max, but you're the bomb!"
Max: "Ka-Boom!" (*kicks him in the crotch*)"

Or how about some of the episode titles? "411 On the DL", "Blah Blah Woof Woof", "The Kidz Are Aiight", and "Shorties in Love". Yeah, I know their only titles, but that gives you an idea of the juvenile writing on this show (come on, they can't even pick good names for their episodes...)

While Buffy entertained me with some of it's humorous one-liners, Dark Angel's attempts to be funny fall flat everytime. Speaking of flat, lets move on to the supporting characters. Michael Weatherly plays the second main character, the wheel-chair bound Logan Cale. While Michael isn't the greatest actor, he looks like Robert De Niro when compared to the rest. Without him, I'd probably go insane from watching this show. He's the only one that seems to talk like a regular person, instead of attempting to use as many hip one-liners as possible like everyone else. Max's boss, 'Normal', also talks, well...normal, but even a brick has more emotion than him. 'Sketchy', a guy who works with Max, isn't too bad, but the only reason he's there is for comedy relief (which makes him pointless since he isn't funny at all). Finally, there's Original Cindy, Max's best friend. It seems that every line Cindy has is nothing but the type of "Hey, look how hip we are!" dialogue that I mentioned before, which makes her another useless and annoying character.

The plot is decent so far. Nothing special just yet, but it's nice to see that most episodes contain continuity. Also, there is some character development, which is always a plus. With a better cast and writers, this could have actually become a great show.

Overall, avoid this one, even if you are a fan of similar shows. I am not a Buffy fanboy or anything, but I'd easily recommend getting all 7 seasons of that and the 5 seasons of Angel before ever getting this. There are a few positive aspects of this show, but I could easily name 5 terrible apects for every good one.

Rating:
Summary: Dark Angel Don't Bother
Review: The good thing about Dark Angel: Jessica Alba looks great.

The bad thing about Dark Angel: Every other thing!

Dark Angel is a showcase for mediocrity. I would say that the acting (and I use that word loosely) is on par with a local elementary school play, but I don't want to insult elementary school plays. The diaglogue strives for hip but only manages a pathetic adults-who-think-they-are-teens falseness. Where the firetruck did they come up with this crap? The stories don't make sense. The characters are flat. The conflict is weak. The premise is vapid.

Oh, wait, I remembered another good thing: I only paid 14.95 for season one.

Rating:
Summary: James Cameron's TV effort equals BIG FAILURE...
Review: The "King of the World" really got knoocked off his throne with this 1999 TV series that was part Charmed/X-Files/Alias all rolled into a poorly written and poorly done show with both bad cg effects and a story that looked like it got it's creative ideas from the over-rated Matrix movies. A real Bleech.

Rating:
Summary: I never give 5 stars, but....
Review: I have to give it up to the first season of Dark Angel. I was a fan of the series, but I hadn't seen any of the episodes since they first aired, 'til I got my copy of DA season 1.

Holy moley.

The writing was nearly as witty as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and sometimes way ahead of its time. Ever heard of "defenestration"? No? Check out "Art Attack"- an episode that featured Master P before he made people say, "Ugh!Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah!". This series had music by Jill Scott playing in the background before anyone knew who she was. They used a theme song written by Chuck D. They mentioned the Taliban BEFORE 2001. These cats were definitely on to something.

But more than that, James Cameron et. al. came up with a plot that compares favorably to the best of comic book/sci-fi mythology. Set in Seattle years after a devastating terrorist attack (someone set off an EMP, frying technology all over the US), this series features a number of people who choose to work towards a better society instead of giving up. In some ways, this reminds me of Cameron's work on the "Terminator" series.

Jessica Alba (of "Honey" fame) plays the main character Max. She's a genetically engineered meta-human who runs and fights like a modern-day bionic woman. Max is not your typical hero--in the very first episode we see her using her powers to burgle someone's place. Her foil is Logan, a post-apocalyptic investigative journalist who will definitely remind you about what today's media is missing.

Max is befriended by her workmates at Jam Pony messenger service, including Original Cindy--a beautiful African-American woman who speaks her own brand of English, dates other women, and sticks up for her peeps. She meets other people with special abilities, some of whom are out to kill her. It turns out that the government is out to retrieve her, and this leads to a few Matrix-esque wire fighting scenes that made for outstanding TV. By the 3rd or 4th episode, this series finds its stride and builds quickly to an awesome season finale.

I wish I could say that season 2 was as good, but it simply wasn't. Check out season 1 so you can learn, in the words of the manager at Jam Pony (and Joni Mitchell), "Don't it always seem to go/That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone..."

Rating:
Summary: Mad props to all my peeps involved in this show.
Review: For some reason the writers of this show thought it would be a good idea to have the bike messengers all talk like this, i mean in 2019 wouldn't young adults have new slang? i mean you don't hear young adults now a days sayin "neato" or "groovy", oh well, moving on. D.ANGEL was one of the first post-buffy female driven action shows and creatively it was a success at least in the first season. In the near future terrorists have detonated an electromagnetic pulse over the U.S, frying everybodys computer and destroying our economy, the world is now a dark and dangerous place under marshall law. Menwhile ten years earlier the goverment in an attemt to create a super soldier gennetically engineer children with enhanced strength and reflexes the children escaped and have lived with the goverment tying to hunt them down ever since. Max (Jessica Alba) is one of those kids all grown up into a beautiful young woman, with the help of a goody two shoes crusading journalist, she fights injustice and searches for the other genetically engineered children. Maxs friends are an assortment of stereotypes, The sassy black girl, the jamaican guy with the very thick accent etc. The shows sometimes suffer from cheesy FX but with its newly reduced price, its a steal. THE PRICE REDUCTION MAY BE TEMPORARY,SO ACT FAST. So that is the 411 on D.A, no need to keep it on the DL. EP

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: I had the good fortune to see every episode of Dark Angel Season One and Two on FOX when it aired in 2000 and 2001. The previews were intriguing: a pretty young girl dressed in black standing on top of a roof with the moon in the background. "From the director of The Terminator," said the previews. Cheesy . . . Cheesy . . . said my mind. But once I started watching, I was hooked. Dark Angel is intelligent, thought-provoking fare. I will say this now rather than at the end of my review: It is a crying shame this series was cancelled for a cowboy-space show called "Firefly," which did not last a season.

Beautiful in a conventional way, yet also in a way that speaks to feminist values and girl power, Jessica Alba plays Max. Max is a genetically-engineered human trying to blend in with society after she escapes from her creators, a sinister agancy called Manticorp. Manticorp is named after the mythological creature called the Manticore. The society Max lives in is post-computers-crashing everything. The government is totalitarian. Society is corrupt and decaying The lone voice of free speech and dissent is a young man in a wheelchair who broadcasts intermittently by asserting control of TV airwaves. His name is Logan Cale (Michael Wetherfield) He only shows his eyes as he speaks, and is known as "Eyes Only." Logan has money, but is frustrated by his physical helplessness.

Max gets entangled with Logan by accident. Slowly but surely she enlists in his cause. And the two begin to fall in love. Yet, they are unable to consummate it physically, for an intriguing reason.

Lots of interesting characters make Dark Angel rich. Max's boss Normal (J.C. Mackenzie) is hilarious as the uptight guy trying to keep order in a chaotic world. Normal's relaxed employees aggravate him. Original Cindy (Valerie Rae Miller) is Max's lesbian roomate. Cindy is urban sweet, and one of Max's truest friends. Perhaps the most fascinating and complex character is Lydecker (Jack Savage), a tough Manticorp drill sargeant. Lydecker seems to genuinely care for his young super soldiers, albeit in a perverse way. Lydecker wants the kids to grow up tough, resourceful and self-sufficient, so they can take care of themselves in a chaotic world. Yet he can be merciless to those who he perceives as "weak."

The sets on Dark Angel are some of the best I have ever seen on a television show. They are dark and gritty, and completely draw you in to her world. The music is lovely. The female vocals illustrate Max's isolation and pain.

Dark Angel was so special.

Rating:
Summary: Something unexpected but worth watching
Review: I bought this DVD for myself two years ago as an avid fan of Dark Angel since it began for it's unfortunatly short lived run time. Reading a lot of the "dissing reviews" here let me be the first to say that I DO understand where you come from. I first heard about this show through the FOX advertisments when it first was airing. And I cynically laughed at the premise of yet another "girl power" show. I had seen enough of the poorly done plot lined things done already (ie Spice Girls, She Spies) Nothing is wrong with female power, but there is something wrong with women who look like supermodels working a plotless story.

But around the third episode of Dark Angel I was entranced by the show as a whole. Many have already ragged on Jessica Alba's ability as an actress and while I also believe she doesn't have talent to rival that of Meryl Streep or Sally Field she is a remarkable presence on camera. Alba's delivery as Max is well played for such a young actress as she was when she started.

The idea of Dark Angel is very unique to me in that it is something that can acutally happen in our modern society. Rivals of this show such as Buffy the VS lack any real world sense unless vampires are going to suddenly emerge from the graves and reak havoc on us all tommorow. But Max's world is shockingly something that is very close to existing. And it is this realism that kept me interested. The entire show was wonderfully vibrant with imagery, emotions and haunting undertones. Max is a female character you root for not feel embarassed by because she's trying to act like something she's not. Her tough ass attitude is counterbalanced with a hidden bleeding heart. The supporting charater of Logan Cale adds a intelligent aire to Max's witty attitude without being patronizing to who she is. And the supportiing characters all add a unique element to the show.

The Pulse world is crude, dirty and corrupt, but the designs Cameron set with it are artistic genious. In particual the ep "Pollo Loco" which dabbles richly in Christian Religion but with the haunting undertones of a woman trying to live with the reality of who she really was.

As for the DVD themselves there are several memorable bloopers in the long reel, particuallry where Michael Weatherly breakes a somber scene with his then fiancee Alba and Greg Lee (Zack) by prentending to veer off the road, also Jennifer Blanc (Kendra)having to put out Alba who's robe has caught fire from jumper cable sparks. The commentaries are also good, a nuaissance since they speak over the episode but it is an extra so it can be turned off. The only problem I have with the DVD is the casing it came it. The accordian shape, as one reviewer here called it is a pain to undo to find a DVD from the six, and the art on the DVD's themselves, although colorful is "odd" in places for lack of a better word. The scatterings of words like "pleruopotents" and genetics looks like it was just copied out of a science book. But this isn't much to complain about it's only asthetic detail.

Finally I say this DVD is an excellent by for those who like the show. I liked the show, I bought the DVD and I'm very satisfied.


Rating:
Summary: dark angel 2nd season
Review: have received 2nd season, wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now have ordered ist season but you have the wrong address to send it to me. tried to change but couldnt make it work. want this dvd sent to my new address on ord rd listed with my visa number, ok???????????????????????/

Rating:
Summary: Dark Angel's Perfect for Rainy Winter Afternoons
Review: 'Dark Angel' is a FOX series that never gathered more than a cult following, yet ages very well and plays much better on DVD than it ever did on TV. 'Dark Angel' details the partnership between a genetically enhanced warrior on the lam and a partially handicapped vigillante who uses his computer rather than a gun as a weapon. It's worth your while for three very good reasons. First, there's Jessica Alba, who plays the heroine Max. 'Dark Angel' perfectly matches Alba's strengths and weaknesses as an actress and - unlike most of Alba's movie roles - makes her look exceptionally confident and skilled. Watching 'Dark Angel,' it's easy to believe Alba has a long future ahead of her as an actress - which is something you don't feel when watching her movies like 'Honey' and 'Idle Hands.' Secondly, there's Michael Weatherly, who plays cyberjournalist Logan Cale. He's a good, charismatic actor with the smarts to underplay his role, which gives credibility to even some of the comic-book dialogue. Lastly, there's James Cameron's input as producer; you may remember him as the creator of the Terminator films, along as the director of 'Aliens' and 'Titanic.' Naturally, although Cameron's input is minimal, the series has some of Cameron's slightly futuristic cyberpunk feel.

Most of the episodes are good, action-packed, escapist adventures, though considerably more downbeat and realistic than most other sci-fi series. No aliens, no reincarnation storylines, and no cute robots! Throughout the first half of the series, Max is almost constantly tracked by a sinister government agent from her past, and this lends the early episodes a constantly anxious atmosphere. If the series could be compared to any other recent shows, the comparisons would be fairest with 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Smallville.' If you like either show, you will probably enjoy 'Dark Angel.' Like those shows, 'Dark Angel' boasts several varied and extremely entertaining supporting characters and loose story arcs. I can watch two-to-three episodes of 'Dark Angel' in one sitting, which I can't do for many sci-fi series.

As the series progresses, there are some weak episodes, but the good outweighs the bad in this package. The extras aren't anything to get excited about, but it's certainly nice to have a few mini-documentaries, outtakes and commentary tracks. Most TV boxed sets have very limited extras at best, so the extras on this set are actually pretty decent for a TV show.

Be warned, however, that although a second box set exists, the show was radically changed in the second season. Cameron ditched most of the supporting players and started over in an 'X-Men' style, including more wisecracks and bizarre mutants, and less of the grit that made Series One special. Much of the menace was removed once Max and Logan faced newer, more comedic adversaries. Not surprisingly, Season Two was the last for this series. Still, we'll always have Season One to cherish, and can hope that one day Cameron will revive the idea for a feature film. Best of luck to you, Jessica and Michael, and thanks for being a part of our lives by starring in this show.