Stargate: Origins (4/10)
The reason I'm reviewing this as a movie is that it's currently only available in movie form. As in, while this was originally a web series, the movie version is now the de facto one. Whatever the case though, movie or series, Stargate Origins isn't good. As a movie in of itself, it's bad. As a Stargate movie, it's terrible.
I'm going to start with the general elements of this movie that make it lacklustre. The dialogue is repetitive. The sets are confined. The characters are bland. The whole thing is non-eventful. Like, it's competent, but this is very much a direct to DVD movie that you'd get for $10 at most, and it doesn't even have the budget of the Stargate movies that WERE released straight to DVD. Really, there's nothing to reccomend to get someone to watch this movie by itself, even though you probably could without any knowledge of Stargate and get the gist of things, though the original movie is a much better entry point. But enough talk about that, let's talk about why this movie is so lacklustre in the context of its own IP.
Origins is little better than glorified fanfiction. It makes no impact on the wider Stargate universe, and it's loaded with fan service, answering questions that were never asked, while opening up plotholes. There's the mini ones, that 1930s jeeps can somehow generate enough energy to open the stargate. But then there's bizzare ones - ever wanted to know why the seventh symbol in the original film was missing? Congratulations, now you know. Wanted to know who were behind the helmets of Ra's Jackal Guard? Now you know (in fairness, this is one of the few pieces of fan service I feel works). You want to know why Catherine Langford pushed to study the stargate? Brainwashing. Yep, brainwashing. I guess free will took it right in the arse, while Aset wins the prize for Convoluted, No Real Chance at Succeeding Plan. Want to know why the stargate was where it was in the original film? Now you know. I could go on in the realm of unnecessary answers to unnecessary questions, but even when those aren't done, the plot of the film weakens the original. In the original, the premise was that this was the first time Earth had opened the stargate to Abydos. Here, Ra is aware that they've opened the stargate, so the original film can't help but be weakened by it. And back to the cinematography angle, as flawed as the original was, it at least captured a sense of scale. It at least had the theme of technology triumphing over superstition (arguably). Origins has none of this. I'll give Origins credit that it actually has to factor in the tranlation issue (an issue that SG-1 and Atlantis ignored), but it's not enough to salvage the film. The only piece of credit I can give it is where Aset sees the Nazi footage and asks about slaves. The unspoken comment (well, partly spoken) is that thousands of years after gaining their freedom from the goa'uld, humanity has proven itself capable of the same cruelty, but if you're expecting any kind of deeper theme from this, keep dreaming.
In the end, Origins is worthless. It's got no reason to exist. Heck, I'm left to ask why it exists. I've seen it suggested that it was made so that MGM could retain the rights, but I don't know for sure. Funny thing is, the full name is Stargate: Origins - Catherine, as if this was meant to be the first in a series of origin series. I wouldn't be opposed to that, but they have to be better than this if they want me to keep watching.
en.wikipedia.org
