quiet_curiosity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quiet_curiosity) wrote2009-02-18 01:05 am
quiet_curiosity) wrote2009-02-18 01:05 am
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Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2009)
One could say that the movie didn't have the most auspicious of starts. Rube/Mandy Patinkin was confirmed to be out. Laura Harris was out and Daisy had been recast. Then the movie was pushed back from its original Spring 08 release date to, well, 2/17/09. And while things didn't look good, DLM fans were still eager for a bit of their beloved show that had been been canceled in 2005.
But after finally viewing the movie, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed. There were more than a few kernels that could have evolved into interesting scenarios had they been given the time to grow. As it actually is, it's a bit of a mess.
1) I didn't like the whole comic book series reintroduction and bumpers. On one hand, why comic books? It didn't make any sense within the context of the movie. On the other, the art often looked terrible. It generally looked like someone had run a photo through the "oil painting" feature on Photoshop with no other adjustments. It looked cheap. As for the series reintro, it went over the Death mythology with the frog and toad set forth by the pilot as well as reintroduce George and, eventually, the characters. I couldn't quite tell if they were doing that for new viewers or for those who may not have watched the series in a while.
2) The burning down of Der Waffel Hous should have been a sign of things to come. The knowledge that we wouldn't see Kiffany was sad enough within itself.
2) As previously suspected, Sarah Wynter is terrible as Daisy. While Wynter was in no way helped by the script, she wasn't able to sell basic Daisy traits. As portrayed, the viewer can't gather from her stumbling performance that the character possess any of the charm or haughty caprice that any of the other characters seem to believe that she has.
3) The new leader? He is as smarmy as the trailer made him out to be. There just wasn't much else to him. Why does he do the things he does? Is he leading people astray through direct action or is he the snake in the garden who needles temptation but allows his "victims" to choose their own paths? He claims at one point that it's a "game" (and how cliche is that?), but what is the game for? The movie doesn't tell but it also doesn't give any clues.
4) HAPPY TIME!!! More than any other character, Delores was most like her show self. While Crystal was there, she didn't have anything to do.
5) The Family? In a way, I liked that Joy had moved forward and I wasn't really surprised that she had moved into grief therapy industry. But she seemed to have been defanged. Reggie has grown up and she now has typical female teenager problem. That her problem was a boy (a soon to be dead boy, to give her benefit) wasn't so horrible, it was what the boy problem actually was (she's the secret, unpopular girlfriend to soon to be dead boy). During the flashback where she asks if he'll take her to Homecoming and he fumbles with the answer, I literally said, "Just because I don't love you doesn't mean that I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you." While I felt sorry for her, I also couldn't help but think she could do alot better.
6) George's new found maturity made sense. She had internalized so many of Rube's old maxims that she wasn't going to switch just because some slick new guy was in charge. It also helped that he had totally fucked up her first assignment. That Daisy and Mason fell so easily for the temptation wasn't quite surprising. I was a bit disappointed in Roxy, but he did hit one of the few things that we know she has an incredible sense of pride (her job).
7) DLM has never been much for maintaining it's supernatural mythology. This movie is right in line with that. Reaps are now haunting buildings, those who are set to die can live without previous reaper intervention, and, perhaps most egregiously, a Reaper can reminisce with a living member of their family without forgetting those memories. Those are just the ones I can remember.
8) That said, the best parts of the movie involved George and Reggie together. These are characters with a long, murky history and there was much to move through, reconcile, and accept. The love and the frustration shown through very clearly.
There was a lot of potential here, especially regarding the loss of Rube. But when compressing that potential into 80 odd minutes, much of the subtlety, character building, and heart from the series was lost. This is the kind of thing that probably would have worked better as a miniseries or OVA. Some seem to think that the movie is testing the waters for a potential series restart, and the end of the movie lends a bit of credence to that. Only time and DVD sales will prove the rumors right.
But after finally viewing the movie, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed. There were more than a few kernels that could have evolved into interesting scenarios had they been given the time to grow. As it actually is, it's a bit of a mess.
1) I didn't like the whole comic book series reintroduction and bumpers. On one hand, why comic books? It didn't make any sense within the context of the movie. On the other, the art often looked terrible. It generally looked like someone had run a photo through the "oil painting" feature on Photoshop with no other adjustments. It looked cheap. As for the series reintro, it went over the Death mythology with the frog and toad set forth by the pilot as well as reintroduce George and, eventually, the characters. I couldn't quite tell if they were doing that for new viewers or for those who may not have watched the series in a while.
2) The burning down of Der Waffel Hous should have been a sign of things to come. The knowledge that we wouldn't see Kiffany was sad enough within itself.
2) As previously suspected, Sarah Wynter is terrible as Daisy. While Wynter was in no way helped by the script, she wasn't able to sell basic Daisy traits. As portrayed, the viewer can't gather from her stumbling performance that the character possess any of the charm or haughty caprice that any of the other characters seem to believe that she has.
3) The new leader? He is as smarmy as the trailer made him out to be. There just wasn't much else to him. Why does he do the things he does? Is he leading people astray through direct action or is he the snake in the garden who needles temptation but allows his "victims" to choose their own paths? He claims at one point that it's a "game" (and how cliche is that?), but what is the game for? The movie doesn't tell but it also doesn't give any clues.
4) HAPPY TIME!!! More than any other character, Delores was most like her show self. While Crystal was there, she didn't have anything to do.
5) The Family? In a way, I liked that Joy had moved forward and I wasn't really surprised that she had moved into grief therapy industry. But she seemed to have been defanged. Reggie has grown up and she now has typical female teenager problem. That her problem was a boy (a soon to be dead boy, to give her benefit) wasn't so horrible, it was what the boy problem actually was (she's the secret, unpopular girlfriend to soon to be dead boy). During the flashback where she asks if he'll take her to Homecoming and he fumbles with the answer, I literally said, "Just because I don't love you doesn't mean that I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you." While I felt sorry for her, I also couldn't help but think she could do alot better.
6) George's new found maturity made sense. She had internalized so many of Rube's old maxims that she wasn't going to switch just because some slick new guy was in charge. It also helped that he had totally fucked up her first assignment. That Daisy and Mason fell so easily for the temptation wasn't quite surprising. I was a bit disappointed in Roxy, but he did hit one of the few things that we know she has an incredible sense of pride (her job).
7) DLM has never been much for maintaining it's supernatural mythology. This movie is right in line with that. Reaps are now haunting buildings, those who are set to die can live without previous reaper intervention, and, perhaps most egregiously, a Reaper can reminisce with a living member of their family without forgetting those memories. Those are just the ones I can remember.
8) That said, the best parts of the movie involved George and Reggie together. These are characters with a long, murky history and there was much to move through, reconcile, and accept. The love and the frustration shown through very clearly.
There was a lot of potential here, especially regarding the loss of Rube. But when compressing that potential into 80 odd minutes, much of the subtlety, character building, and heart from the series was lost. This is the kind of thing that probably would have worked better as a miniseries or OVA. Some seem to think that the movie is testing the waters for a potential series restart, and the end of the movie lends a bit of credence to that. Only time and DVD sales will prove the rumors right.