For a while now, I have been meaning to write about the shows I have been watching. Rick and Morty season 5 is nearing its end. Among the hot stuff, I have watched Loki and finished watching "What If" episode 4 today. I had been gifted a Disney+ account by a friend of mine. So the most shows I have been watching are from this platform. Came across Star Wars – The Bad Batch while exploring and gave it a go. Though I have discontinued being in tune with the Star Wars lore long ago, this one worked a charm delving me into reminiscence. But if you are not a star wars fan, avoid it. To surmise in fewer words, I've been watching sci-fi a lot. So let's talk about it then, eh!
One of the most fascinating sci-fi shows I have watched in recent times is Snow piercer. Had a tough time relating it to the movie starring Chris Evans. Actually, the show might be more immersive than the movie, encompassing loads of new characters and complex world-building, but a few of the main actors and actresses lacked charisma which in comparison to the film made it a bit boring, to be honest.
In my humble opinion, if Cinema is art, then the roughest form of Cinema is Sci-fi. It is much tougher to turn Sci-Fi into art. If you've watched Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey or Ridley Scotts Blade Runner, or any of the Tarkovsky films, you indeed have watched Cinema as sci-fi in its prime. That's the threshold and benchmark which has been set permanently. It's much more robust to visualize sci-fi than the other genres of Cinema and establish the rules of that universe the story is set in while not breaking the flow of storytelling. It is not just about the flashy visuals and space ships flying all around in a spectacularly built Minneapolis, which you never get to explore on screen. For example, in Tarkovsky's "Stalker", the viewers explore a familiar environment while slowly unraveling the physics of the universe. The essence of realism can wholeheartedly be enjoyed. At the same time, even after being a 40-year-old movie, any of the scenes as a still frame can easily be compared to a piece of modern art if you pause absolutely anywhere in the film. Sci fie as art is certainly not a piece of a crap movie starring Chris Pratt wearing tight camo shirts while fighting aliens. Many Sci-fi shows too fall under similar rules, but I am yet to watch a sci-fi show which can be called a Masterpiece.
Now to get back to Snowpiercer, it is not an easy watch. It's boring at times. They introduce many characters, most of whom you get to know about from the ground up. But the rest, who play vital roles as the story progresses and accompany the show's protagonist, you feel nothing inside for them. To me, that is the most crucial part of a show which this one lacked massively. You must "feel" something, anything at all, for any and every single one of the characters, especially if it's sci-fi. This was the weakest part of storytelling that, if you are already accustomed to watching sub-par shows, would be no bother to overlook.
At the start of this post, I labeled Snowpiercer to be absolutely fascinating even after it scored an average rating in public forums. It encompasses the potential to let us explore as big of a world as Blade Runner. Imagine for a moment that you are one of the last remnants of humanity on an icy planet where no life can flourish out in the cold. But how are you alive then? It is because you are traveling the world in a train one thousand one cars long that is run by an engine eternal. And as soon as the engine stops, humanity perishes. Seems like thoughts of dystopic post-apocalyptic worlds you get when you are high, right? It is like that because both the movie and show had been adapted from a French graphic novel that itself is pretty graphic. So, when you watch it, it almost feels like you are watching a graphic novel rather than a show. Overall, it is high up there in terms of sci-fi standards. It also has quite a high production value. As for the cable providers, it is tough to compete with web-based platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney plus, especially when you are up against marvel shows.
