Written by Michael Taylor
Directed by Felix Enriquez Alcala and Wayne Rose
“You’re born, you live, and you die. There are no do-overs…no second chances to make things right if you frak ‘em up the first time. Not in this life anyway.”
In some respects, Razor is same-old, same-old. It’s Battlestar Galactica on auto-pilot – rather than telling a new story, it seeks to flesh out older and long-running plot lines. In other respects, Razor is the kind of Shakespearean tragedy that is typically Galatica: powerful, poignant, thrilling, and melancholy.
But was it necessary…?
The story of the Pegasus is not new to us – the season two trilogy of Pegasus and Resurrection Ship I & II dramatized magnificently the story of the colonial flagship’s survival…and the moral downfall of its crew. But Razor introduces us to a new character – Kendra Shaw – and it is her point of view that adds an extra dimension to the fleshing out of the horrors of Pegasus’ survival after the Cylon attack.
But whereas the season two trilogy left much to the imagination (in the most evocative way), Razor gives us full frontal violence: uncompromising, terrifying, and shocking. The massacre of the civilians, the horrible military discipline of Cain…the unusual relationships revealed on board Pegasus. All of these things act as the counterpoint to what we already knew, and while they are no less valid than the original stories, they are far more blunt in their approach. The success of these scenes from a dramatic point of view are obvious – personal preference will dictate which version fandom will find more palatable.
One unqualified success of this revised fleshing-out is the greater focus on Admiral Cain, and her tortured journey from leader to destroyer…a devastating combination of superb scripting by Michael Taylor and the sublime acting of Michelle Forbes.
The other half of Razor deals with an attempt to insert an expanded story into a more recent era of Galactica, during the time of Lee Adama’s command of the Pegasus, after the downfall of Cain and the elimination of her officers. Kendra Shaw is integrated into these scenes to show what has become of Cain’s legacy…and the result is a poignant evaluation of the kind of pain that can result from a life of violence and uncompromising, black-and-white morality. It is especially effective in the context of Shaw’s relationship to Starbuck: someone who is equally damaged, but has survived through the love and friendship that Shaw lacked.
All of this is well made and well acted…but it’s just delicious icing on already well baked cake. It’s a feast for the fans, and a surprisingly good sampler for newcomers to Galactica…but the series could easily exist without it…which makes me wonder…what was the point?
Look no further than the new plot elements introduced during the post-Cain segments: old school Cylons, guarding lab facilities that seem to have been the original location for the development of the new humanoid Cylons. In some respects, it’s continuity porn & fanwank on a massive scale…but so well done (those lovely gold and silver-retro Cylons, and the original wing-shaped fighters, never looked better). There are also some tantalizing morsels regarding what is to come…with the revelation of the Cylon hybrid progenitor…and his warning about Starbuck’s role in a coming apocalypse…
Was this movie necessary to give us this exciting plot taster? Couldn’t they have integrated the plot into the stories of the actual second and third seasons? Again…the final verdict must be left to personal taste. My own judgment is that, although it’s a superbly made film – up to Galactica’s usual standard – it doesn’t do much more than temporarily quench the thirst for the upcoming fourth season.
8
