"It's a Good Life" is one of my top two favourite episodes of The Twilight Zone, with tension and suspense in that final party scene so thick it can be cut with a knife - a real pull-out-your-hair, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat type of affair. Of all the Twilight Zone episodes, I'm not sure it's one I would have most asked for a sequel to. It's a lot to live up to, and recreating that level of suspense is likely impossible. Unsurprisingly, they couldn't quite do it, though there are a few seconds of tension.
Rather than recast and pick up where they left off, It's Still a Good Life brings back Bill Mumy and Cloris Leachman, aging them appropriately. I like the fact that they give Anthony a daughter (Audrey) with greater powers. They stay true to Leachman's character Agnes, who always hated her son. Frankly, given the fact that he grew up without discipline or any honest evaluations of his efforts, I'm surprised Anthony didn't turn out as more of a freak plagued by the Dunning-Kruger effect - a challenge in how to revisit this character.
On the down side, I'm not satisfied with the ending. "I brought it all back" fells like a cheat; being stuck together as an ironic fate might have been truer to the original Twilight Zone. Or Audrey gets rid of Anthony only to become the new Anthony. There's no segue between Audrey hating her dad and suddenly loving him in the climax. I wasn't totally satisfied with the pacing and special effects, either (granted It's a Good Life wasn't strong in the special effects department, but they were smart about it). The new intro to the noughties revival also doesn't do justice to the original- too flashy, not unnerving at all, with a similarly splashy title logo.
Rather than recast and pick up where they left off, It's Still a Good Life brings back Bill Mumy and Cloris Leachman, aging them appropriately. I like the fact that they give Anthony a daughter (Audrey) with greater powers. They stay true to Leachman's character Agnes, who always hated her son. Frankly, given the fact that he grew up without discipline or any honest evaluations of his efforts, I'm surprised Anthony didn't turn out as more of a freak plagued by the Dunning-Kruger effect - a challenge in how to revisit this character.
On the down side, I'm not satisfied with the ending. "I brought it all back" fells like a cheat; being stuck together as an ironic fate might have been truer to the original Twilight Zone. Or Audrey gets rid of Anthony only to become the new Anthony. There's no segue between Audrey hating her dad and suddenly loving him in the climax. I wasn't totally satisfied with the pacing and special effects, either (granted It's a Good Life wasn't strong in the special effects department, but they were smart about it). The new intro to the noughties revival also doesn't do justice to the original- too flashy, not unnerving at all, with a similarly splashy title logo.