Sci-fi Channel's "Flash Gordon" (Review)

I never made it completely through the terrible 1980's "Queen" rocked-out movie, but when I heard that the Sci-fi channel was making a series based on the classic sci-fi character, I waited anxiously for the pilot to air.

Eric Johnson, whom many will recognize from "Smallville", takes on the role of our hero. "Flash" is a noble, self-sacrificing character; A small-town hero thrown into a galaxy-wide conflict. Some nice bits of humanity have been introduced to the character in the pilot that made me pleased to see he was being taken seriously and treated like a real person. Real human drama can be a great ingredient for wild, imaginative sci-fi.

In the end, however, the pilot proved to be just... okay. Special effects were not up to par with sci-fi's hit, "Battlestar Galactica", and the alien costumes were certainly no match for what was common on "Farscape".

The acting was also stale (the alien princess) and at times annoying (the geeky scientist). Emporer Ming wasn't the least bit imposing or threatening, another bland performance. If they were going for that "B-movie" kind of bad acting, they didn't go far enough. (Although I really don't think that's what they were aiming for.) Eric Johnson played the part of "the guy next door" very well, but the performances surrounding him were not contrasting enough to highlight his very likeable "Flash".

Unless there is a dramatic (pun completely intended) change within the next episode, my hope is that this show will quickly disappear and keep people from once again singing the "Queen" song to me whenever I talk about one of my favorite superheroes(who bears no resemblence to this dud).

Quality: 6.5/10

Relevance: No Score (This review was written before the use of the "Relevence" category was implemented.)