Mini-series: The Andromeda Strain

Having never read the book upon which The Andromeda Strain (2008) is based, I feel somewhat unqualified to review it. And a cursory examination of the relevant wikipedia articles shows that the mini-series was unfaithful to the source material. To some, that's more than enough reason to not watch. Other people might need more reason. That's why I'm here.

The Andromeda Strain (2008) wasn't bad. The concept of the virus was frightening, both in how it killed and in its lethal efficiency. The cast was able and communicated the terror of the situation well. The special effects were not amazing, but they were still good. High production values all around. But it was never spectacular. There's nothing here to complain about, but nothing that I felt really deserved special mention; except, as I said above, the cast's communication of fear.

So what does that leave us with? The series was fairly slow paced, although I never felt bored. I thought there was enough action throughout to keep things interesting. Then again, I really enjoyed The Thin Red Line, which is commonly thought to be too long, and too boring. I also genuinely enjoy Scrabble. So maybe I'm the freak, and everyone else was snoring by Act Two.

What I really had a problem with though was the message. Now this may have been present in the original novel (although I doubt it, based on the plot summary), but if it is, it would annoy me there as much as it does here. As far as I could tell, the message of the film was:

A) Technology and science are good, but not that good.

In response, technology and science were the only reason anyone survived this series. So although they are bashed for causing damage, the fact that they saved the day is completely ignored. Instead the filmmakers wanted us to know:

B) The environment is really important.

Which it is, except they took it a step further and said:

C) We should never drive anything to extinction in the pursuit of the advancement of technology and our own well being because it might randomly become useful sometime down the line and we must be prepared for literally everything.

Which is just crazy. Insane, bouncing-off-the-walls-of-your-rubber-room crazy. I don't know when or how that point of view started to make sense, but it's just crazy. Should we clear-cut rainforests? No, because we need trees so we can breath. Should we preserve every type of tree in every type of forest because maybe the foliage of one of those trees is magical, and would be the prefect fallout shelter from a new type of bomb, which hasn't been discovered yet, but if it is discovered and then used to attack us we would be without protection if this one type of magical tree is lost forever?

Whatever happened to survival of the fittest? We can't preserve every part of every environment because that's just not the way the world works. I know PETA and animal rights activists everywhere disagree, but if you're an animal which only eats one thing, which grows in only one place in the world, and doesn't even really grow there, I'm not going to feel too sorry for you when you go extinct. No, I don't care if you're cute. Sink or swim. Adapt to new situations, or get left behind. We can't pamper and protect everything, and it's crazy and narcisistic to think that we can.

Of course, you may disagree, and in that case, the message of the mini-series wouldn't bother you at all. I disagree with it though, and it bothered me. It's not necessarily a problem with the show, and I'm not going to go any further into why I disagree with it (I've already gone too far into it for this review), but it stiffled my enjoyment.

Oh and we can't forget:

D) Oh and the government is really clever and good at conspiracies and also incredibly evil (but it's not the president's fault).

Which is kind of old-hat these days. Also not in the original novel. I understand it's inclusion as a sub-plot, and it was kind of bad-ass to watch, except I felt it was unnecessary. Or rather, that it would have been much more at home in The X-Files.

So ultimately, what would I say? Watch it if it's on and you've got nothing better to do. But I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it.

2/3