Killjoys - Cheap but enjoyable

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
killjoys.jpg


Well I caught the series premiere of Killjoy's on SyFy tonight. In a way the thread title says it all.

Production values are cheap. A lot of old factories and such are used. CGI is minimal and pretty basic in nature.

Acting was actually pretty good. Aaron Ashmore landed on this show and feels much more at home here than he did as Jinx in Warehouse 13. Hannah John-Kamen is an actress unknown to me but she does well in the role she has. Overall the acting was decent all around.

Story wise this is definitely an action story in a science fiction wrapper. The characters are part of an organization of quasi bounty hunters who operate independently of all governments and other organizations. Their code is they deliver on any and all warrants exactly as specified and without question. It actually reminded me a little bit of the Probe organization from the 70s TV movies and series "Search":


In fact, I would compare this premiere favorably to that of Defiance. Here we get introduced properly not just to the characters but also the setting. We are told enough about the setting and background so that character actions actually make sense. Some stuff is held back to further a mystery subplot but even then we know enough to let us grasp basic events.

On the bad side, the musical score was too rock-ish for my tastes and could have used improvement, and some of the cinematography felt like a music video.

Overall it was enjoyable. It had energy and moved pretty quickly. No soapiness to speak of. Characters interesting enough to want to see what happens next and a backstory sufficiently interesting to want to see how they develop it.

I liked it....
 
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Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Well I caught the series premiere of Killjoy's on SyFy tonight. In a way the thread title says it all.

Production values are cheap. A lot of old factories and such are used. CGI is minimal and pretty basic in nature.

Acting was actually pretty good. Aaron Ashmore landed on this show and feels much more at home here than he did as Jinx in Warehouse 13. Hannah John-Kamen is an actress unknown to me but she does well in the role she has. Overall the acting was decent all around.

Story wise this is definitely an action story in a science fiction wrapper. The characters are part of an organization of quasi bounty hunters who operate independently of all governments and other organizations. Their code is they deliver on any and all warrants exactly as specified and without question. It actually reminded me a little bit of the Probe organization from the 70s TV movies and series "Search":


In fact, I would compare this premiere favorably to that of Defiance. Here we get introduced properly not just to the characters but also the setting. We are told enough about the setting and background so that character actions actually make sense. Some stuff is held back to further a mystery subplot but even then we know enough to let us grasp basic events.

On the bad side, the musical score was too rock-ish for my tastes and could have used improvement, and some of the cinematography felt like a music video.

Overall it was enjoyable. It had energy and moved pretty quickly. No soapiness to speak of. characters interesting enough to want to see what happens next and a backstory sufficiently interesting to want to see how they develop it.

I liked it....

What's the premise?
 

Joelist

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Staff member
The "killjoys" are members of a "bounty hunting" organization whose operations span multiple planets and systems and (as described in the OP) who are not part of any government or company or such. They operate according to a credo where they take the warrant and fulfill it exactly. Our heroes are a three person group of such "killjoys" and the show follows them pursuing their warrants and also follows a budding intergalactic class war starting to break out in the area they operate in.
 
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shavedape

Well Known GateFan
What's the premise?

I'll tell ya what the premise isn't. It isn't Aaron Ashmore with his shirt off. Even in the torture/fight scenes he still keeps his clothes on. What's up with that? :(

roflbot(1).jpg
 

Joelist

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It was to taunt you Shaved....
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
It was to taunt you Shaved....

Well it must have been cuz I sure as hell didn't tune in to watch the great acting. As it is I'm still trying to figure out why they announce "Viewer Discretion Advised" for this show? It's about as risque as a McDonald's Happy Meal. :daniel_new004:
 

Joelist

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Staff member
Well it must have been cuz I sure as hell didn't tune in to watch the great acting. As it is I'm still trying to figure out why they announce "Viewer Discretion Advised" for this show? It's about as risque as a McDonald's Happy Meal. :daniel_new004:

Yeah, it wasn't very risque. But I still enjoyed it for what it was - a cheapo action /scifi vehicle that moves pretty briskly and was well enough acted to make it fun.
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
Yeah, it wasn't very risque. But I still enjoyed it for what it was - a cheapo action /scifi vehicle that moves pretty briskly and was well enough acted to make it fun.

I can tolerate cheapo action as long as I know it up front. What takes me out of being immersed in the story is what I consider to be the bad direction/choreography in the fight scenes with the girl. The last fight she had while dancing around and wearing that big, poofy dress was rather clunky. It had the potential to be a really great scene but the direction and editing wasn't up to the task. If we're to believe this hot little gal is a total bad ass then they need to make her fight scenes tighter.

Granted, I know that's a trivial point, but as I said improperly filmed fight scenes take me out of the action, take me out of the story. (It's one of the reasons that I won't bother to watch The Librarians which is egregiously bad in this regard.)
 

Joelist

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Yeah, that was what I was thinking of when I said some of the choreography felt like a music video. It was still fun overall.
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
Yeah, that was what I was thinking of when I said some of the choreography felt like a music video. It was still fun overall.

Agreed. I'm not looking to hate on this show. I just think it's a little too cheaply done unfortunately. There's nothing wrong with being economical, but that doesn't mean it can't still be directed better than it was.
 

Joelist

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Actually there were two fight scenes with her. The first one was done properly (at the very beginning when she had the gun hidden in her dress) but the second one was, if anything, overdirected. The whole "music video" feeling was more expensive then just letting her fight. I'm just thinking they got carried away in that last scene.

Either way it was fun overall. It will be interesting to see how it progresses. It's already worlds better than "Dark Matter" and rather less expensive (it's a Canadian show SyFy is buying from Space).
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
Actually there were two fight scenes with her. The first one was done properly (at the very beginning when she had the gun hidden in her dress) but the second one was, if anything, overdirected. The whole "music video" feeling was more expensive then just letting her fight. I'm just thinking they got carried away in that last scene.

Either way it was fun overall. It will be interesting to see how it progresses. It's already worlds better than "Dark Matter" and rather less expensive (it's a Canadian show SyFy is buying from Space).

Yeah, they definitely got it wrong in her second fight scene. The MMA cage fight scene between brothers they managed to do fairly well, which is why I was disappointed with the final fight scene. When they went with the whole "music video" style for the last fight scene it ruined my suspension of disbelief. To me that scene was just the director saying to the viewers "Look at how cool my directing style is!" :rolleye0014:

I like the show better than Dark Matter though, mostly because it doesn't seem as overly turgid as DM does. Also, I don't care for the dark lighting on DM at all. It's like the entire show is filmed in a garage with the lights off. Killjoys had some dark lighting but it wasn't as bad as DM.
 

Joelist

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I guess I didn't let one overdone scene ruin the whole show for me. I do agree it was the director having a "how cool can I film it" moment - hopefully it does not occur a lot.
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
I guess I didn't let one overdone scene ruin the whole show for me. I do agree it was the director having a "how cool can I film it" moment - hopefully it does not occur a lot.

Well it goes to the believability of the character. They are making her out to be a top tier reclamation agent (level 5) so that implies she's this incredibly "machine" when it comes to her work, which includes fighting obviously. But then they film a bunch of badly choreographed and sloppy moves and expect the viewers to just accept it. That doesn't work for me.

I'm not faulting the actress though. I see this as being a problem with the direction. With proper choreography and camera work they could make her seem like a "Jason Bourne ninja", which would be really cool. And I don't think it would affect the budget much at all. It simply comes down to the director being competent enough to direct that style.

*(I admit that I've become a lot less tolerant of sloppy fight/action scenes in TV shows after trying to watch The Librarians. The combat scenes are cringe worthy on that show. Seriously, they don't even rise to the level of cartoonish.)
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
The "killjoys" are members of a "bounty hunting" organization whose operations span multiple planets and systems and (as described in the OP) who are not part of any government or company or such. They operate according to a credo where they take the warrant and fulfill it exactly. Our heroes are a three person group of such "killjoys" and the show follows them pursuing their warrants and also follows a budding intergalactic class war starting to break out in the area they operate in.

I like this premise. :) Makes a great platform for storytelling, even if it means that the majority of the storylines will be the standard "good guy gets bad guy and saves the day" thing. Bounty hunting is not going to give us tales of exploration or scientific endeavour. :)

Im still gonna check it out.
 

Jim of WVa

Well Known GateFan
Well it must have been cuz I sure as hell didn't tune in to watch the great acting. As it is I'm still trying to figure out why they announce "Viewer Discretion Advised" for this show? It's about as risque as a McDonald's Happy Meal. :daniel_new004:

Probably for the same reason Archer keeps getting those warnings about nudity and sexual situations. In Archer, the nudity is never titillating and is always for comedic effect.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
I like this premise. :) Makes a great platform for storytelling, even if it means that the majority of the storylines will be the standard "good guy gets bad guy and saves the day" thing. Bounty hunting is not going to give us tales of exploration or scientific endeavour. :)

Im still gonna check it out.

True dat. This is not the kind of premise that will yield Arthur C Clarke type Science Fiction. But as a platform for action in a scifi wrapper I'm cool with it.
 

Joelist

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Premiere got a 1.0 with a .30 demo. Not bad especially considering the show costs SyFy next to nothing.
 

Joelist

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Neither. SyFy gets it from Space network in Canada.
 
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