DVD Review: “Caprica” (y’know – that BSG prequel)
Just as the series finale answered the question “what if someone crossed Battlestar Galactica with Lost?” this direct to DVD movie (soon to be a pilot) answers “What if BSG was crossed with Dallas and the Sopranos?”
(some small spoilers below the fold).
First, it should be noted that this DVD is “unrated” and would likely recieve a PG-13 or even R rating due to some nudity, group sex, and blood. Interestingly, it’s pretty obvious which parts will be cut, as some of the other “adult content” is rather TV tame (the one extended sex scene is quite tame and shows very little, whereas several scenes in a virtual nightclub contain lots of brief and not so brief glimpses of nudity and group gettin’ it on).
The story follows two families, both connected because their daughters died in a terrorist bombing. The families are the Adams (actually Adama, but they changed their name to avoid prejudice, as young Bill Adama’s father explains to him) and the Graystones, the creators of the Cylons.
Caprica is a polytheistic and rich but decadent and racist society. The youth generally spend their time in virtual nightclubs where they engage in all manner of extreme violence and sexual perversions. The Adama family comes from Tauron, a backwater planet looked down upon by the rich people who run Caprica. Joseph Adams/Adama was made an orphan in a civil war on Tauron, and was raised on Caprica. The Tauron mob (a Mafia/Yazuka type outfit) paid for Adama’s law schooling and ask him for small favors here and there, though he wants to get out from under their thumb.
Daniel Graystone’s daughter Zoë (a name that annoys me because the actress has more than a passing resemblance to Zoey Deschanel) has created a virtual copy of herself that thinks and feels. She is also secretly a monotheist. However, the monotheists are a rather militant group that engages in terroristic acts. Zoë dies when her boyfriend decides to suicide bomb a train they are both on.
Her father is five years behind on creating a robot that can be used for military purposes. The robot needs to learn to act independently. He thinks he can do it if he has a piece of technology from a rival company. Knowing about Adama’s mob ties, he befriends him, asking him to steal his rival’s tech. And then Mr. Graystone stumbles upon Zoë’s virtual copy. Meanwhile, Jospeh Adama wants to move away from the mob, but when Daniel promises a way to get his daughter back, he finds himself driven further into the Tauron crime syndicate.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie – enough so that I look forward to the series. There are a few discrepancies – for a series set almost 60 years before BSG, some of the technology seems more advanced than what BSG had access to, and some of it seems to have hardly changed at all.
The character dramas are compelling, though. This is a very different series than the BSG that just ended. It’s Dallas and the Sopranos set in space, as I said above.
The only sour spot is that Ron Moore (once again, as in the New Caprica storyline) seems to justify suicide bombing as a legitimate means of social protest. However, as this is only the pilot, it’s hard to see where he is going with this underground monotheistic cult, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt and hope that as the series progresses this will be addressed.
A highly recommended view, though it’s not for kids. I’m sure the edited for TV version will be more family friendly, though.
Posted on April 27, 2009, in Pop Culture. Bookmark the permalink. 15 Comments.
Thanks for this review, Ivan. I haven’t even finished Galactica yet, but I was curious about Caprica.
I’m interested enough to rent it. Thanks for the review.
Saw it last night, and Ivan I must say I was immensely disappointed. The CGI was worse than anything BSG had to offer, the acting outside the lead actors was wooden, and frankly the themes were a little tired. The novelty of the series was not immediately present to me. Further, the show had a lot of gratuitous nudity and violence — not that I mind either, but it served little purpose. Compare the pilot of Caprica against the pilot of BSG — the one cannot hold a candle to the other.
Well, I agree the nudity and violence was totally gratuitous. It’s easy to see which scenes will get cut or heavily edited, and the story will still make sense without the gratuitous elements. They feel very tacked on because they are so obviously gratuitous – they add little to the story.
I don’t agree the acting was wooden. Mr. Graystone, perhaps, but I found Joseph Adama and Zoe to be quite compelling.
However – the BSG pilot? I have to say that the initial BSG mini-series left me cold. Except for Olmos, the acting there was wooden and the pace was off. If I hadn’t decided to watch “33″ I likely would never have gotten into BSG. “33″ was compelling stuff, and the actors had all finally gotten into their characters. But the mini-series wasn’t all that compelling to me. So comparing Caprica to the BSG mini-series, I have to say Caprica wins.
Although I have to add that I don’t think it’s all that helpful to compare Caprica to BSG, just because they are two very different shows with very different focuses.
I’ll give you Joe Adams and Zoe were well-acted. I guess it just felt like that New Caprica webisode terrorism intrigue all over again. And Eric Stoltz is a terrible actor, I don’t know why people like him.
That’s all fine and good, but, the real question is, how often do they use the word Frak?
how often do they use the word Frak?
I didn’t keep track, but I got the impression that it was at about one-third BSG levels of usage.
So is it kind of cyberpunky? It doesn’t sound that compelling to me. Plus, to be honest, the way the series drifted the past two years kind of disappointed me a lot.
No, it’s not really cyberpunky. I mean, there’s a cyberspace virtual reality type thing, but the character/family drama is the main focus.
There’s definitely a cyberpunk influence – every foray they make into the digital world is definitely Gibson-esque. Agreed though that it is more about family drama, with hints of corporate espionage and religious terrorism.
And the mob. Don’t forget the mob. Somebody does get whacked in this pilot, after all.
Not bad at all. Until the last 2 minutes that is. Zoe the cylon?
I like where they where going with the pilot and I can get how Zoe would fit into the development of a Cylon culture. It was sort of obvious that they where going there early on. The only gripe I have is that the CGI was awful and I also agree witht the others that the nightclub scenes where just gratious and had no point. The people in the club where almost like the cast from a bad MadMax remake.
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