Well, it could have been a complete disaster, but the 6 part, US remake of classic 60's show The Prisoner doesn't embarress itself. It starts off in a similar manner with the series lead, now an impossibly bland Jim Cavizel instead of the magnetic Patrick McGoohan, who resigns from a mysterious high powered job and then wakes up in The Village, which is in an unspecified location and, from which, there is no escape. As before everybody has a number, not a name, and the village is run by Number Two, played by a charismatic Ian McKellan.
The Village is now in a desert setting, and along with some retro 50's production design, the environment seems appropriately odd. Filmed in South Africa, it's stuffed with Brit actors who give solid support including the cute Ruth Wilson and the gorgeous Hayley Atwell.
Story wise, this is still subtext ridden stuff, layered with meaning. It's not as obtuse as the original though, choosing to give more solid answers to certain issues (like who Number Six works for), where the original gave nothing away. It's a shame the male lead wasn't cast with someone that, dare I say, could act. Cavizel makes understatement a profession and his lack of range sticks out like a sore thumb when pitted against the master McKellan. It's nearly as bad as casting Whalberg as a heroic leader of monkeys in the Planet of the Apes remake...but not quite.
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