‘3 Body Problem’ Netflix Series Review - Close Encounters of the Worst Kind

There were moments when I was watching 3 Body Problem - the new sci-fi/fantasy series on Netflix - and was reminded of another sci-fi Netflix series called Bodies. What's common between them is not their content (one show deals with aliens while another with time travel) but the feeling of joy you experience from good science fiction. Bodies, though, was able to maintain this excitement from beginning to end. It's sad that the same compliment cannot be extended to this series created by Alexander Woo, David Benioff, and D. B. Weiss. Still, when 3 Body Problem works, it works wonderfully.

Based on the Chinese novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, the series often reminded me of trashy novels one might generally find at airports or railway stations. This becomes less of a complaint and more of a compliment, especially when 3 Body Problem uses visual effects to create giddy, macabre images like soldiers and animals floating upwards towards their death or a body dehydrating like a balloon being deflated. Why don't more filmmakers have fun with VFX? I am tired of looking at lifeless, artificial backgrounds. These mentioned images are viewed when the characters enter a virtual reality-like game with a headset that doesn't have a screen, a USB port, or a charging point. It's an advanced gadget. All the scenes that unfold within this game are marvelously delicious. What's more, for a while, it seems that the greatest threat to humanity here is video game addiction, given how obsessively Jin (Jess Hong) and Jack (John Bradley) talk about ways to complete the levels.

The viewer can almost sense the excitement of the creators. They are happy to share this story with us, and their happiness is incredibly infectious. What initially keeps you engaged - apart from all the alien stuff - is the light-hearted mood that is present in every frame. Jin promises Raj (Saamer Usmani), her boyfriend, that she won't discuss science in front of his parents. In the very next scene, we see her talking about various dimensions. It's humor like this that keeps the show from drowning in tedium. How bad it is then that the series decides to get rid of this tone from episodes 5 to 7.

Suddenly, "3 Body Problem" becomes too self-serious. To make matters worse, it loses its charm, and its momentum. Scenes don't unfold; they start to drag. All this could have been bearable if the characters had more dimensions. They mostly discuss plot-related issues, regurgitating the words from the screenplay with a solemn attitude. None of them are believable. I was never convinced they were scientists or police officers. Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham turn out to be the exceptions, as they bring a certain amount of determination to their roles. Marlo Kelly, as Tatiana, exudes the madness of a religious fanatic. She looks up at the sky with a deranged smile, like someone who has come to the realization that god exists and He cares for their life. As Will, Alex Sharp serves as an emotional device. His function is to extract tears from the audience's eyes. Well, his sentimental love story is at least semi-effective.

3 Body Problem opens with the physical assault of a physics teacher. He is punished because he taught the theory of relativity to his students and is asked to reject such scientific notions. This idea of control, obedience, and censorship is woven into the fabric of this series. A group of people become devotees of the extraterrestrial species. Sophon (Sea Shimooka) uses Tatiana to do her bidding. Characters often say that the aliens are showing them things that suit their objective. Like a dictator, they keep an eye on everyone and invade their privacy.

These extraterrestrial species are very unimaginative. When the word "pest" is used in place of "enemy," they take the meaning of the p-word literally. They also consider the story of the Red Riding Hood to be a reality. These scenes, where Mike (Jonathan Pryce) teaches the aliens about fiction and sentient life, can be taken in the context of humans training an AI. Another interpretation can be this: The literal-minded aliens are literal-minded human beings who cannot differentiate between fiction and real life. Such individuals exist in large numbers currently. I read somewhere that someone from The Simpsons team commented that they had to eliminate the Homer-choking-Bart routine to avoid backlash from the public. Like the extraterrestrial intelligence in this series, such people, more often than not, pose a threat to the world of creativity.

Final Score- [5.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times