Plot: What’s it about?
Max (Jessica Alba) has learned much about her troubled past, more than enough to land her in serious trouble. After she delved deep into the mysterious genetic engineering project, she found out all kinds of information and ran into serious problems. At the end of the road last time out, Max had been discovered and captured by the government. Her life was almost lost as well, but at least she is alive, even if that doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme. As always, she is thinking and making plans however, plans beyond her current situation. She is held up by her inner strength, but her physical prowess is also quite impressive. As such, she is soon able to break loose from her confines and reign down some vengeance. While her assault has demolished Manticore, the group behind the creation of the genetic prototypes, that hasn’t freed her or the others to live normal lifestyles. When she escaped however, some other beings also broke free, mutants with more obvious alterations than her own. These mutants have animalistic traits and soon, violence erupts and clashes break out all over the place. All the while, mankind has to watch in terror and most cement their distrust of these outsiders. Can Max and her friends manage to overcome, or will they be forced to remain underground or worse yet, be killed in the conflict? As the chaos rages on, the answers will be revealed soon enough…
Although the series was surrounded by hype, thanks to the involvement of James Cameron and intense promotion campaign, Dark Angel failed to score with audiences. As such, this second season would prove to be the final one. The storyline promised to be an epic one, but with only two seasons, things had to be done at a more rapid pace. So the story moves at a brisk pace and some subplots wind up lost in the shuffle, as the writers attempted to give Dark Angel some kind of coherent, satisfying closure. But the end is still abrupt and as far as series finales go, this one isn’t up there with the best ones. Dark Angel never lived up to its potential, but I was more impressed with this second time around session. Jessica Alba is super sleek and hot in her role, though most of the other cast members aren’t that memorable. The sci/fi angle of Dark Angel is mostly in the visuals and techno speak, while action and more traditional drama are the main elements. I do think the show tries too hard to be hip, which can result in weak dialogue and thin characters. If more focus were placed on the sci/fi side of the coin, more could have been done in those areas and by turn, perhaps gave the series more of a chance. I can’t recommend Dark Angel as a blind purchase, but if you’re interested, it is worth a look.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in full frame, as intended. These episodes look excellent, with no real complaints, even minor ones, to be made. The prints are all pristine and show no flaws, even small nicks are absent and grain is never present. This means the visuals can shine throughout, since the materials have no defects to hinder the presentation. As such, the image is razor sharp and detail is very high at all times. I was impressed with the contrast, as black levels are replicated to perfection and never lapse in quality. So shadows look superb and no visible detail is lost, which is important, since this series often has dark visuals. No troubles with the colors either, as hues have a bold and natural presence. These episodes simply look fantastic and whether you’re a fan or new viewer, you’ll be quite pleased here.
Audio: How does it sound?
You can enable audio commentary tracks on some episodes, in which several crew members discuss the productions. I would have liked to hear more from the stars or even James Cameron himself, but these tracks prove to be worth a listen. This release also includes three brief behind the scenes featurettes, as well as a blooper reel.
Supplements: What are the extras?
You can enable audio commentary tracks on some episodes, in which several crew members discuss the productions. I would have liked to hear more from the stars or even James Cameron himself, but these tracks prove to be worth a listen. This release also includes three brief behind the scenes featurettes, as well as a blooper reel.
