“In the light universe, I have been darkness. Perhaps in the
dark zone I will be light.” - Kai
I am a science fiction nut. Hard core. Geektastic even
(hence the name of this blog)! I am willing to watch anything in this genre no
matter how shitty it may look due to my intense love for it. I truly adore
“science fiction” over “sci-fi”, but I don’t discriminate all that much since
we usually get more of the latter than the former nowadays (Looper and Prometheus being the recent formers). But what I really look for in
my science fiction is when a completely new approach is taken and something
unique is the result. This is why I cannot express how much I hold a treasure
like Lexx so dear to my heart.
Lexx started out
as a series of four 2-hour made-for-cable movies by a joint Canadian/German
filmmaking venture. It was also very ambitious due to the fact that over 60% of
all the visuals were to be computer generated images. This was in 1997 mind
you, a full two years before Star Wars-
Episode I: The Phantom Menace would revolutionize the way films were made
in this manner, so that alone was pretty impressive at the time. I never had
the chance to see these movies when they first aired, but when they were
released on DVD I checked them out and have cherished (most of) them ever
since. These four movies now serve as the first season of the show’s four
season run once The Sci-Fi Channel picked up the rights to produce a weekly
series. Since I recently revisited the original films I will be reviewing each
feature individually.
The first film, titled I Worship His Shadow, introduces
the main players and the odd universe they inhabit. Stanley H. Tweedle (Brian
Downey) is a security guard on The Cluster, the central planet in the League of
20,000 Planets, where His Divine Shadow, a nearly immortal tyrant, rules all
with an iron fist. When the trial of the revolutionary leader Thoden (Barry
Bostwick) goes horribly awry Stanley inadvertently becomes the commander of
the Lexx, His Divine Shadow’s most powerful starship, during a jailbreak. He
teams up with a love slave, Zev Bellringer (Eva Habermann), the undead assassin
Kai (Michael McManus) and the disembodied robot head 790 (Jeffrey Hirschfield) to
escape The Cluster into The Dark Zone, an alternate universe of chaos, and away
from His Divine Shadow’s influence forever.
Yeah, it’s a lot to take in and this premiere film is chock
full of non-stop exposition and backstory of all the central characters and the
setting. The people behind the series, Paul Donovan, (the late) Lex Gigeroff
and Jeffrey Hirschfield, really put a lot of effort into fully realizing this surreal
universe and the series benefits greatly from it. Everything feels lived in,
thought out and practical in the strangest way possible. Everything is also
extremely oversexualized. There’s a lot of nudity from both genders, everything
is designed with either a phallic or vaginal look and some characters are
always horny without a care for what gender they bang, one being a
necropheliac. For some it’s overwhelming (I know a few people who I’ve tried to
show this series to that couldn’t get into it for these reasons) and for others
it’s just the kick in the pants the genre needed to move into fresh new
territory.
The story is just batshit insane. It takes a little while to
get used to all the craziness being thrown at you, but once you get into the
groove of things it becomes a total blast. There are some of the most creative
and atypical ideas on display here that I have ever seen. From the insect ship
designs to the dark and inhumane governing of the general populace, it’s all different
and a welcome change-up.
Sure the idea of a living spaceship isn’t new (Farscape and Star Trek did it numerous times), but the fact that it’s a giant
spacefaring insect that needs to stay fed to work properly is a masterstroke.
The Lexx is even a character itself and talks to the crew on occasion (voiced
by Tom Gallant).
The protein bank idea is gruesome, but inventive as well.
This universe’s version of small claims court finds the defendant strapped to a
slab and tried by a virtual judge. When found guilty, and everyone always is,
the defendant is cut to pieces in order to feed the Lexx.
A staple of popular entertainment is the villain, and we all
know that a cool villain is always key to this genre. His Divine Shadow
unfortunately is not very threatening, deity or not. It’s a dude (Lex Gigeroff)
in a hooded robe and a deep voice (provided by Walter Borden) who talks a lot
of shit, is obsessed with insects and not much else. If he didn’t have a giant
world ending armada and a stable of undead assassins he would not be much of a
menace. The one interesting thing about the character is that he is able to
transfer his consciousness into a new body once his current one becomes too
worn down, and the brain of the previous host is removed and kept alive for
reference purposes. These brains are called His Divine Predecessors and are
stored on the Lexx.
The characters are interesting and are severely emotionally
damaged. Each has issues of their own to deal with, and while they are all
tragic stories they are also extremely entertaining once they combine forces
and become a bizarre family unit. Each actor brings something unique to their
part and breathes life into their off-the-wall character. Brian Downey goes for
a sort of sleazy sad-sack angle for Stanley, and given that he’s the main
character this was a bold choice. There are times where he is completely
unlikable and others where you can’t help but root for the poor guy who just
can’t seem to catch a break. Eva Habermann, while not being a native English
speaker (she’s German), manages to make Zev sexy as hell even though she seems
overly preoccupied with getting it on with a corpse. She’s not the greatest
actress in the world, but she’s easy on the eyes and her character is fun. Michael
McManus plays the undead Kai with a Vulcan-like stoicism and a dry wit. He’s
the voice of reason within the crew, who are all very impulsive and reckless. Once
he realizes he is the one prophesized to eliminate His Divine Shadow and
regains all his erased memories he begins to develop a caring personality which
is mildly fascinating. We only get to see Jeffrey Hirschfield’s mouth on 790’s
faceplate screen, but his voice is one made for comedy. He is the comic relief
character who constantly spouts dirty limericks to profess his undying love for
Zev and he gets all the best lines (Zev – “What kind of robot are you?”, 790 –
“I’m a robot who wants to live in your underpants.”). There’s also the secondary
character of Giggerota the Wicked played brilliantly by Ellen Dubin. She is
probably my favorite character in this first feature (she returns in the second
as well) due to her completely over-the-top performance as the lusty busty
cannibal stowaway aboard the Lexx. Her costume is pretty rad too. Barry
Bostwick hams it up something fierce as Thoden. His screen time is severely
limited and thankfully so; the less time I had to watch him running around in
golden plum smugglers the better.
I must also commend Marty Simon’s score. It’s some weird
electronic techno orchestral fusion that has a unique sound that perfectly
compliments the on-screen action. I actually own the soundtrack for these films
and the following series. Good stuff!
Not all is super awesome in Lexx land however. The visuals are severely dated by today’s
standards. Virtually all the CGI looks like a first generation Playstation game
and the greenscreen work is atrocious. It does grow on you and gives the film a
certain low budget charm. Don’t forget, at the time this was made this was
groundbreaking stuff. All the sets are pretty sparse and cheap, especially the
bridge of the Lexx which looks like a lot of cloth stretched over rebar frames.
The pacing is erratic in the extreme. There are sections
where the plot is racing along and the next it is as slow as a snail with
nothing of note happening at all and is just series of useless repetitive visuals
that do nothing to advance the story. Some better editing would have been
welcome.
The direction is also all over the place. I’m sure that the
project was overwhelming for Paul Donovan, I know I would have been, but it’s
as if he only has two ways of directing his actors: chew the scenery until
there is nothing left or to pretend they’re sleepwalking. I will admit that it
does eventually mix into a nice balance, but for this premiere feature it can
be a little overwhelming.
And lastly… there is some moldy ass cheese floating through
the script. I am talking cornball city. Some of the dialogue is wretched (“My
life means nothing in the great equation. Beauty such as yours must live on.”),
events are dumb beyond belief (Thoden has a robotic dragonfly bomb hidden up
his nose) and villains are eliminated so easily it made me wonder why it took
centuries for anyone to attempt it sooner.
Sure these things are some major issues, but the creativity
and brass balls on display here override the negatives in my book. This is a
daring and altogether brave new venture for the world of science fiction. It is
filled with interesting ideas, perverse pleasures and everything in between. In
1997 and even today there was and still is nothing quite like it. I am a lifelong
fan and I recommend that everyone watch this premiere telefilm at least once.
Where is Eva Habermann Now? http://evalexx.blogspot.co.nz/2015/03/eva-felicitas-habermann-born-january-16.html
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