There are two ways to look at this version of Knight Rider: as a stand-alone TV movie, and as a pilot for a TV series.
As a stand-alone movie, some might feel it falls a little bit short. It goes out of its way to establish that it's not the 80s incarnation that everybody remembers, with threesomes, lesbians, and commentary on private security firms working in Iraq. One could argue that by cramming so many characters into the story, any chance of decent character development for the leads (Mike Traceur, KITT) was lost.
As a pilot for a TV series, it stacks up much better. The jumbled feeling caused by the number of characters almost disappears when you remember they're trying to lay a foundation for future episodes of a series; but future installments will need to focus on the relationship between the the car and its driver to duplicate what made the original show a success. KITT needs an opportunity to evolve away from being so HAL-like, as was the case in the '82 pilot, and Traceur needs an opportunity to become less of a burn-out/deadbeat (we get it, nobody likes the war) and lean on that "one man can make a difference" theme from the old show.
All in all, there were some good effects, a little action, a few chuckles, and some nice nods to the past. Let's see where they take it if and when it goes to series.
As a stand-alone movie, some might feel it falls a little bit short. It goes out of its way to establish that it's not the 80s incarnation that everybody remembers, with threesomes, lesbians, and commentary on private security firms working in Iraq. One could argue that by cramming so many characters into the story, any chance of decent character development for the leads (Mike Traceur, KITT) was lost.
As a pilot for a TV series, it stacks up much better. The jumbled feeling caused by the number of characters almost disappears when you remember they're trying to lay a foundation for future episodes of a series; but future installments will need to focus on the relationship between the the car and its driver to duplicate what made the original show a success. KITT needs an opportunity to evolve away from being so HAL-like, as was the case in the '82 pilot, and Traceur needs an opportunity to become less of a burn-out/deadbeat (we get it, nobody likes the war) and lean on that "one man can make a difference" theme from the old show.
All in all, there were some good effects, a little action, a few chuckles, and some nice nods to the past. Let's see where they take it if and when it goes to series.