Dark Angel: Season 1 (2000)

Created by James Cameron and Charles Elgree
Starring Jessica Alba and Michael Weatherly
22 1-hour episodes on 6 discs / 20th Century Fox / Unrated
Retail: $59.98 / Street: $45

Review by Alex Mestas 5/18/2003
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Max is a genetically altered human, created in a lab and trained to be a warrior. Max also happens to be a smoking hot brunette with perfectly coifed hair and beautifully tuned makeup. Oh, and it's ten years in the future and a bomb destroyed all the computers and people had to start from scratch. You see, as a child, Max escaped the lab where she was made and is essentially on the run from evil government forces. She finds refuge in Seattle where she tries to learn about her mostly-forgotten past and fight evil using her genetically enhanced body.

Dark Angel gets part of the Alias / Buffy formula right - some ass kicking and a few very sexy costume changes. I don't quite know what it is though, but Alba just can't bring the same emotional subtext that Gellar and Garner manage to bring to their roles. Part of it is definitely the writing. It's a bit heavy on the "my dialogue is going to tell you what is happening" type of scripting. And with Buffy and Alias, you just plain feel for the characters. Maybe it's some cosmic intersection of acting, writing and directing that all merge together to make a successful show.

Dark Angel isn't bad, but it just comes up struggling a bit in a few places. A lot of little mistakes that add up. I think part of the problem is that the scope of the vision outpaces the budget by leaps and bounds. It has to be hard to do a weekly TV series that takes place in a post-apocalyptic future. Hell, it's easier just to stick a bunch of people on a starship. And there's always something just a little off. Sure, the US looks dirty, but it also looks a lot like Canada. I'm sorry. I can't help in pointing that out as much as possible.

As for Jessica Alba She's no Meryl Streep but she is one of the most beautiful girls in the business, if not the entire universe. OK, a bit of an exaggeration (Ms. Bellucci easily takes that crown...so...womanly) Of course, with that hotness comes a very annoying but not all together surprising point: Max always looks like a supermodel with perfectly styled hair and f-me red lipstick. Jeez, the post-apocalyptic future isn't looking like such a bad place. And complaints about her "character approach" take a back seat later on through the season, as Alba's acting finally hits its stride.

It's a shame that they never quite get the execution of the formula correct because they get damn close. Hell, they even have Max going into heat because she has feline recombinant DNA. How great is that? After two seasons and rather lackluster ratings (but like every sci-fi show, it has its hardcore fans) it's not really a surprise that the show got cancelled. It just didn't provide enough to distinguish it from other shows on television.

TV Grade: C+

Video: 4 out of 5
TV. On DVD. What else do you want? It looks good, but it's not going to blow you out of the water like the X-Files DVD that I reviewed.
Full Screen 1.33:1


Jessica Alba, Action Hero

Audio: 4 out of 5
Some nice, strong aggressive audio courtesy of the Dolby Surround. Again, it's TV, but it's nice and aggressive like a sci-fi show should be.
English (Dolby 2.0)

Extras: 3 out of 5
There's some nice commentaries with the producers and writers, as well as some gag reels and featurettes.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5
Let's get something straight - Dark Angel is enjoyable, fun and sometimes even a little sexy. But it has a lot of problems too. Problems that can't always be solved by pouty lips and long, flowing hair.

Buy it here: Fox Store

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