If any research was actually done for this story, it was certainly only on the religious angle because Bill Pullman's astrophysicist is not only a shallow character, but a horribly generic Hollywood depiction of what science is. With the exception of Contact, Hollywood's notion of what a scientist is has been so far from reality, yet Revelations has discovered a new extreme to take it to by contrasting it with a well-researched religious background. Not only does it make the story less compelling, it makes the characters incredibly one-dimensional.
*** SPOILER *** The single clearest example of how badly they've misrepresented science is the idea that they could tell a virgin birth from DNA. While this is true, they already know it's impossible because the baby is male...a woman has no Y chromosome. This is only one of many examples of the oversights from this movie. *** END SPOILER ***
Apart from the poorly researched story (which relegates this tale to at best an entertaining romp through supernatural mumbojumbo), the acting really isn't that great. Bill Pullman's character is about as intellectual as his character in Ruthless People...you know, the one where at the end the police actually say, "This may be the dumbest human being on the face of the earth." Natascha McElhone is good but not really all that different than Sara in Laurel Canyon, which is a far cry from a nun. Michael Massee has gotten better since even the first episode, but for someone supposed to be so evil, he's really not all that horrifying. Besides, he's obviously portraying the smartest character of the bunch (even though that role should be Pullman's), so it's hard not to root for him to beat all the idiots.
Everything about this show is melodramatic, so one might expect it to be somewhat campy. However, having seen the special preview screening as well, it's obvious the writer takes his vision extremely seriously. One could only hope he had done his homework, too. Everything about Revelations falls exceptionally flat, and I would be exceptionally surprised if this series got picked up for a full season next year.
*** SPOILER *** The single clearest example of how badly they've misrepresented science is the idea that they could tell a virgin birth from DNA. While this is true, they already know it's impossible because the baby is male...a woman has no Y chromosome. This is only one of many examples of the oversights from this movie. *** END SPOILER ***
Apart from the poorly researched story (which relegates this tale to at best an entertaining romp through supernatural mumbojumbo), the acting really isn't that great. Bill Pullman's character is about as intellectual as his character in Ruthless People...you know, the one where at the end the police actually say, "This may be the dumbest human being on the face of the earth." Natascha McElhone is good but not really all that different than Sara in Laurel Canyon, which is a far cry from a nun. Michael Massee has gotten better since even the first episode, but for someone supposed to be so evil, he's really not all that horrifying. Besides, he's obviously portraying the smartest character of the bunch (even though that role should be Pullman's), so it's hard not to root for him to beat all the idiots.
Everything about this show is melodramatic, so one might expect it to be somewhat campy. However, having seen the special preview screening as well, it's obvious the writer takes his vision extremely seriously. One could only hope he had done his homework, too. Everything about Revelations falls exceptionally flat, and I would be exceptionally surprised if this series got picked up for a full season next year.