Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Moonlight


For all you fellow Buffy/Joss Whedon fans out there: If any of you have seen the new show "Moonlight," can you convince me that it's not just an inferior rip-off of "Angel." Am I missing something?

3 Comments:

Blogger Talmida said...

MArk, I thought it sucked (no pun intended), but my daughter (who blogs as AnimeJune) thinks otherwise.

:)

12:20 PM  
Blogger AnimeJune said...

My mum directed me to your site, and I think I can say something about "Moonlight". I loved "Buffy", kinda liked "Angel", and love "Moonlight".

"Angel" was a fantasy - it was about a vampire and his friends who inhabited a fictionalized world of magic - I mean, you barely see the human world in "Angel", it's mostly about how he deals with the magical demon underworld - you have stories about demon eggs and magical amulets and psychic powers and alternate dimensions, and a whole menagerie of demons and monsters.

I've found "Moonlight" to be more a paranormal romance with a procedural element, similar to the 1989 show "Beauty and the Beast." "Buffy" was about a human nagivating the demon world - with "Moonlight," it's a vampire exploring the human world.

In "Moonlight", it's humans and vampires - nothing else (at least so far). So the themes I've found are generally different. Mick and his friend Beth will probably spend episodes tracking down regular human criminals and maybe other vampires - they won't be trying to plug the Hellmouth so that the Masticator of Worlds won't tear a hole in the Fifth Dimension.

They also took out the sort of "mystical" elements of the vampire myth (for instance - holy water and crosses don't hurt vamps anymore). In that way, it's almost science-fictional. The focus is more on Mick's relationship with the female protagonist, while they solve crimes, while Angel is more up for adventure and exploration.

I've watched all three shows, and yeah, "Moonlight"'s the guilty pleasure of the three, but I think it's unfair to see it as a rip-off of "Angel" just because it has a vampire PI in it. Vampires are such a popular element of pop culture that you can interpret them just about any way you please.

Please excuse me if I've rambled - I love "Moonlight" and have always gotten funny looks when I say I like both "Moonlight" and "Angel" and "Buffy."

12:33 PM  
Blogger Mary Sue said...

It was stupid. I tried to give it fair shake, but with Pushing Daisies also new this season and Heroes continuing to be a powerhorse, I have a low tolerance for half-arsed 'fantasy' shows.

12:42 PM  

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