“Ark” tries the youthful lure of space tales

Over the past four decades, Dean Devlin has seen large chunks of show business.
He was an unnoticed TV actor, guesting briefly on “Fame and “Happy Days” and such. He was a movie writer-producer, scoring big with “Independence Day” and “Stargate.” He drew criticism from others (and himself) for special-effects epics … then redeemed himself with “Leverage.”
Still, he said, some emotions persist. He’s felt that on “The Ark” (shown here), which debuts at 10 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 1), on Syfy: “Walk on the set, you’re suddenly 12 years old again. It’s like, ‘I’m on a spaceship!’”
That’s the sole setting for “The Ark,” which achieves a frequent goal – a space story with mostly young people in charge.
That’s been tried before – “Mission: Genesis,” “The 100,” “SpaceCamp,” etc. — but this time writer Jonathan Glassner has a fresh set-up: A malfunction has killed everyone in the front of the ship, including all the senior officers. That leaves three young lieutenants.
“They weren’t supposed to be in charge,” Devlin said, “not for a long time. They were supposed to be mentored.”
Those roles go to a Canadian actress and two English actors – all sharing Devlin’s passion for sci-fi.
Christie Burke (shown here), 33, said she used to visit the spaceship sets her dad helped build for movies. She also obsessed on an ET doll and, “when I was 5, used to never takeoff the Pink Power Ranger outfit.”
Richard Fleeshman is also 33 and a professed “Power Rangers” fan; Reece Ritchie, 36, likes to quote from “Terminator.”
A critic might say there’s a huge difference between the dim-witted “Power Rangers” and the brilliance of “ET” and “Terminator.” Sci-fi is a very large genre.
Devlin, 60, seems to agree. “I went through a period of time where I was overly enamored with digital effects,” he said. “I had to fail a few times to remind myself that it’s always about story and character.”
That bottomed out with “Godzilla” (1998), which he co-wrote. In “Movie Guide” (2016, Penguin Random House), Leonard Maltin wrote that the special-effects-driven “no-brainer doesn’t make much sense, has shallow characters and goes on too long – but still offers a surprising amount of fun.”
Since then, Devlin has reversed course. His “Leverage” series and its follow-up, “Leverage: Redemption,” have offered elaborate plots and complex characters. He quotes TV executive Michael Wright, who told him: “Premise lasts about 15 minutes for the audience. After that, it’s really about: ‘Who are these people> Do we care about them? Are we compelled by them?’”
In “The Ark,” the ship’s three young lieutenants seem to have secrets and schemes. Their underlings, intended to populate a new world, include a nerdy agronomist and a fast-talking tech whiz.
That talkie techie is played by Stacey Read, who grew up in Zimbabwe, her mother’s native land. She’s part of an international cast that also includes actors from Spain and more, including Serbia, where “The Ark” is filmed.
Devlin and Glassner originally went to Serbia for “The Outpost,” which used its castles and landscape. They stayed for “The Ark,” Glassner said, “even though we don’t need to ever leave the stage.”
That stage, after all, is a giant space ship. Why would they want anything more?