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Tag: multiverse

March 31, 2024

What the Heck is Happening in the Sci-Fi Series Constellation?

If you want to understand what’s going on in this Apple TV+ show, you’d better pay attention to all the details. And that may not be enough. Here’s my review.

Confusion abounds. Reality warps. It’s hard to keep track of all the fleeting clues. Watching science fiction was so much easier when Spock had a beard.

Spoiler Alert: Yes, the Apple TV+ series “Constellation” suggests a multiverse. There, I’ve said it. But this is no Marvel movie. Yes, it’s starts in space on the International Space Station. No, there are no aliens. Yes, things get weird.

Actually, the writers of this eight-episode show would probably be angry with me for wrongly connecting this tale to the multiverse. It’s about quantum entanglement. There, now I’ve said that.

Every Detail Matters
Either way, before you know it, you don’t know what’s going on. Nothing makes sense.

Across this first season’s arc, the writers slowly fill in key details that help you figure out what’s really happening. Barely.

“Constellation” plays more like a mystery than sci-fi. But you’d better know your science fiction. And while you’re at it, bring along your understanding of science facts too (especially your knowledge of the end of the Apollo space program).

And you’ve got to pay attention. Really pay attention. The truth is out there, but it’s hard to keep everything straight in this wonky, reality-bending family-focused story.

Family Crisis
The family in question is our astronaut hero Jo played by Noomi Rapace, her often-frustrated husband played by James D’Arcy and their precocious and ‘Force’-sensitive ten-year-old daughter played by twins Davina Coleman and Rosie Coleman. (The casting itself is a plot giveaway.)

Sure, the pressures of modern life can wear on a family unit, and many movies explore this space. But the story brings new meaning to the phrase, “I don’t know you anymore.”

There’s also a former astronaut played by Jonathan Banks running a secret experiment on the ISS. He seems to have all the answers, like the Cigarette Smoking Man from “The X-Files.”

Reality is Not a Constant
The series begins with an accident on the ISS and Jo’s harrowing escape. But when she gets back home, it’s not exactly the same. Certain details have changed.

By the end of the disturbing first season which mostly takes place on terra firma, after hours of a drip-drip, wash and repeat story-telling structure, it does finally come into a partially satisfying focus. Barely.

“Constellation” takes it time and throws a lot of genres at you. Science fiction, mystery, suspense and even a dash or horror.

It’s different. I’ll give it that.

Did I like it? I’m not sure. Maybe. Perhaps some version of me did. (Ha ha.)

Yes, it’s well done, and the actors are great. But the filmmakers really needed to leave a few more crumbs along the way for less detail-oriented viewers to follow (guilty).

Will There be a Season 2?
And I’ve got to say that the traditional season-ending cliffhanger is particularly frustrating here when there’s no guarantee there will be a second season. (As of this post, a second season of “Constellation” has not been announced.)

Maybe it would be better if it all ends right here. Episodic mysteries that involve science fiction often have a difficult time getting to their own finish lines in a completely satisfying way. It’s all about the mystery… not the pay off. And that’s often a problem.

“Lost” got lost. “The X-Files” never really wanted to find the truth.

Houston, We have Another Problem
“Constellation” could be different. Who knows. But the producers need a green-lit second season, if we’re ever going to find out.

Of all the many remaining loose ends, the most disturbing one for me is the Apollo program inconsistency the show doesn’t even acknowledge is a reality-bending problem.

Do you want a real spoiler?

Two words. Apollo 18.

Enough said.

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October 31, 2021

Why Movies are Ignoring Old Boundaries of Storytelling

Upcoming films are betting that the legacy of iconic characters will successfully transport to new stories and even into the next chapter of a different movie franchise.

I stumbled upon the teaser trailer of Pixar’s upcoming “Lightyear” quite by accident last week. I didn’t know the 2022 animated flick was in production. So when I watched the spot on YouTube, my experience was similar to how we viewed movie trailers in the old days.

And I was delighted.

I especially enjoyed the opening sequence of the spaceship launch. It was visceral. Pixar’s animators keep upping their game.

But my immediate interest in the movie was based on more than a great trailer. That’s because “Lightyear” is connected to an existing franchise. (This flick is apparently the origin story of Buzz Lightyear who the “Toy Story” character is based on.)

But this hero is someone else. So this movie is really a blank slate as storytelling goes.

Clever.

A Prequel or Sequel?
Yes, you’ve got immediate brand recognition. But as a ‘prequel’ of sorts, the writers are not limited by the audience’s knowledge of a character’s future (something like what J.J. Abrams did by creating “Star Trek’s” Kelvin timeline).

But whether a movie is a prequel or sequel, there should always be a good reason to excite the audience beyond familiarity.

And a good movie trailer is usually the way to do that.

The Matrix Resurrections
I enjoyed “The Matrix” trilogy, but you can’t really say the last one ended on an especially happy note. Not that movies must always have a happy ending, but I usually appreciate it when they do. And if you’re committing your time to multiple sequels, I feel it really stinks if the ending is a bummer.

Almost 18 years have passed, and now they’re making a fourth and seemingly rewriting history.

I did know that “The Matrix Resurrections” is due in December, and I was eager to catch the first trailer. It did not disappoint, though it didn’t offer anything dramatically new.

I think the key draw is bringing Neo and Trinity back together. The trailer teases the opportunity to rewrite their tragic story. Or perhaps, tell it again, but differently.

How to Bend the Past to Fit with the Present
The idea of rewriting history in established movie storylines is definitely in vogue now. Both the MCU and DC’s “The Flash” are exploring the ‘multiverse.’ As a storytelling device, you can redo a story infinitely in different, but parallel universes, as the Disney+ series “What If?” demonstrates.

Or we can use the multiverse as a unifying theme to incorporate every iteration of a movie franchise ever made with different actors. Then you can cement it all into one accepted multiverse movie canon.

Whoa.

Upcoming examples are Michael Keaton’s Batman from 1989 and 1992 showing up in next year’s “The Flash” and Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man reportedly coexisting with Tom Holland in the upcoming “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

Really clever.

Plus, it taps into our sense of nostalgia for these earlier movie franchises. I think “Lightyear” and “The Matrix Resurrections” also appeal to the same feeling.

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, and I think it’s plenty enough to get you into a movie theater (or in front of your TV and pay channel).

Back to the Future
If this all this sounds like Hollywood is focused on reaching way back to help jump start its future, it sure seems that way.

  • “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in a few weeks
  • “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022
  • The next Indiana Jones movie in 2023

And if the writers also want to stretch reality and break a few laws of this universe to bring a few iconic movie heroes back into the fold, I’m game.

First give me a good trailer with characters I want to root for. Then surprise me with a new multiverse twist.

That’s a recipe for success.

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