Spielberg's latest attempt to revive the family adventure television genre, "Terra Nova," passes as an entertaining escape from a dreadful Monday.
The pilot episode presents "Terra Nova" as "Swiss Family Robinson" meets "Jurassic Park" meets "Land of the Lost." The series begins in dystopian planet Earth circa 2149, where skyscrapers have been totally demolished and the air has become too polluted for humans to survive without a gas mask, proving climate change skeptics wrong.
So what is humankind's only chance of survival? A colony of pilgrims apparently has the answer, which involves walking through a time portal and journeying to the pictographic, prehistoric past.
Led by Cmdr. Nathaniel Taylor ("Avatar's" Stephen Lang), the people of Terra Nova hope to live better lives as they settle down within the Jurassic jungle.
Being another Spielberg project that focuses on his signature family dynamic, the series maintains a focus on the Shannon family, who partially make this series watchable. However, the opening episode leaves out some specifics, most notably the two-child rule, which prevents the audience from fully understanding the family's troubled history.
The change in scenery from beautifully shadowy dystopia to a green, warm environment also brings about a change in tone, which could have been damaging to the series. The cutesy family feel that often occupies the Spielberg world replaces the intense science-fiction feel the first episode brings about.
We're also introduced to a select group of routine characters also common within Spielberg projects, particularly the Shannon family's three children who each handle the move with their style of rebellion. Josh (Landon Liboiron) is the rebellious son who was forced to leave his girlfriend behind in the future.
Luckily, the more sinister aspects within the series begin to unveil themselves just as it begins to become a sentimental displeasure.
Upon the settling down in Terra Nova, colonists are under siege from ravenous dinosaurs that populate the surrounding jungle. The special effects for these dinosaurs reach varying degrees of remarkable, depending in large part the quality of the television you're watching the show on.
Still, as far as television standards go, the CGI effects for these dinosaurs and the dazzling terrain they inhabit are as astonishing as anything that television has ever offered before.
The colonists are also threatened by the "Sixers," a group of renegades led by Mira (Christine Adams) who left to create their own establishment. The reasons behind this rebellion will no doubt play out in future episodes. This also brings up the assumption that Terra Nova may not be the utopia that Taylor is selling it as.
Jason O'Mara ("Life on Mars") provides a notable, sympathetic lead as Jim Shannon, a man who has been estranged from the family for three long years until the entire family jumps back through time. British actress Shelley Conn plays wife Elisabeth, whose intelligence as a trauma surgeon earns the family a place on Terra Nova.
Lang's portrayal of the colony-leading commander is significantly similar toward his portrayal of the Col. Miles Quaritch in "Avatar." In Terra Nova, he once again personifies the tough commander who survived on his own within the hazardous environment. The only difference is that the audience sees a less externally genocidal character. The pilot episode has already foreshadowed that Taylor might soon rule with an iron fist, forcing the colony to choose sides.
So long as the effects remain impressive within each episode and the story steers clear of episodic "Land of the Lost" adventure territory, "Terra Nova" will continue to express its potential, and Spielberg will have another mainstream success on his list.