KSL Movie Show review: Make the effort to watch the entire “Murderbot” series

Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.

First off, the title is a bit misleading. It would be like calling “The Iron Giant,” “The Menacing Mechanical Monster.” Technically correct, practically okay, just sounds off-putting.

Here’s the premise: in the future, a company will create partially biological security robots called “sec units” to protect clients from harm on distant worlds.

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One particular sec unit (Alexander Skarsgård) has managed to hack into his own governing module so that he can think and behave on his own without annoying human interference. He must, however, keep it a secret until he can figure out how to obtain his freedom. That, or he will be scrapped and melted down for spare parts.

He also, by the way, is an older model. So his current rental fee will be quite a bit less for potential customers hoping to save a few credits or are just flat broke.

That is the case with a ragtag team of free-spirited scientists being hired to test a desolate planet for potential terra forming. They can’t afford to hire a fancy, new sec unit to protect them off-world, so this beat up, old has-been will do.

He calls himself “Murderbot” because he believes he’s a tough guy and if any of the stupid humans give him grief, he’ll just eliminate them. Dr. Mensah (Noma Dumezweni) is the kindly team leader who has a soft spot for him, while Gurathin (David Dastmalchian) who is also part android, has serious trust issues with this relic robot.

In truth, Murderbot ideally would love to be left alone, channeling through a long-running cheesy TV series he has downloaded into his memory banks. Think “Galaxy Quest” but this one is called “The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon” – with John Cho as the Captain, Clark Gregg as a Lieutenant and Jack McBrayer as a crew member who just yells a lot. They’re hilarious.

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What makes this even funnier, is the running internal conversation Murderbot has with himself, about everything and everyone around him.  Yet, he takes his job as security officer very seriously, even though the dumb humans don’t often heed his warnings, like the one about an approaching giant centipede sand creature that wants to eat the “meat sacks” for breakfast.

Still, with his newly-acquired ability to think independently and with examples from his beloved TV show, he demonstrates actual signs of empathy and concern for this wacky group of hippie scientists, even though it doesn’t come naturally to him at all. In fact, he kind of resents it.

I really enjoyed this series and suggesting it will remind you of “Galaxy Quest” is a huge plus. The only problem is the waiting, as the first two episodes premiere on May 16th on Apple TV +, then one each following Friday, until the finale on July 11th. I will say this. I had the privilege of watching the entire first season and it is definitely worth the effort.

MURDERBOT (A-) TV-MA for violence, profanity and sexual material.  This is a ten-episode TV series on Apple TV +. Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Noma Dumezweni, David Dastmalchian, Sabrina Wu, Tattiawna Jones, Tamara Podesmski and Akshay Khanna. Written and directed by Chris and Paul Weitz (“About a Boy” “The Golden Compass”) filmed in Toronto. Each episode runs 30 minutes.

The KSL Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles airs Fridays on KSL NewsRadio from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the show on Facebook, and join The KSL Movie Show Club for exclusive perks by texting MOVIE to 57500. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Message frequency varies.