ReBoot: le code du gardien

This show has gone to great lengths to not be anything like the original ReBoot, and in one episode openly mocks the old fans. Ok what if it's not for the old fans? Well, why not make something new in that case?

The show is by no means ReBoot. It is a patchwork of other shows and movies like Tron and VR Troopers.

This show couldn't stand on its own feet even if you took any aspect of ReBoot out of the equation.

It is almost like someone had the chance to publish their fanfiction and they weren't even a fan.

This show has no heart or soul, don't waste your time with it.

It clearly states "Inspired by Reboot" but while watching the first episode, I was left with the distinct feeling they had never seen an episode of the original series.

Nothing resembling Bob, or Dot, or Enzo, or Fong, or the user, or any of the sprite citizens of Mainframe.

This is a 1 and done show for me. Sat through an episode and i'm finished with it. I might have been kinder in my review if it had a more honest title like "Generic Teenagers in CyberSpace"

I have watched this entire series on Netflix. The main characters are largely forgettable. After watching 10 episodes I barely remember the red one and the girl's name. As for Vera, out of the entire cast, she was probably the most memorable character and mostly because of her eccentricity was akin to Mork from Ork. This show pretends to portray messages then falls short of ever doing so. Although they are fighting these villains, it feels like there is no true moral compass. During their jaunts in cyberspace the main characters have no qualm in terminating the lives of innocent binomes just because they happen to be in their way, whereas in the original television program of the 90's the message portrayed was that every life had value as demonstrated by Dot Matrix's incredible show of character in the "Firewall" episode. The emphasis of this show seems to be on the children jumping around yelling hackneyed catchphrases while destroying their enemies. The characters brought back from the original series, although similar, are blatantly different from their portrayal in the original show. Megabyte is little more than an inept lackey, Hexadecimal seems quite underpowered, and the CGI animation of all the characters seems lazy. The series is at all times predictable and completely without substance, or soul. This new program seems to attempt to try to do so many things at once that it falls short of every mark. While borrowing elements from many other successful programs from the 90's and riding on a widely popular franchise with a cult following, it just is not memorable in and of itself. This show will not even be a footnote for many who watch it.

I'm a huge fan of the original ReBoot, and I just finished watching every episode of "The Guardian Code" and I'm a little insulted that the creators have said that they had fans of the original in mind making it. The only reason I'm giving two stars instead of one is that the actor that plays VERA is phenomenal and a real boon to an otherwise irredeemable insult of a show. It has nothing to do with the original, whatsoever, in plot, theme, or mood.

This whole thing is desperately tragic because I've been waiting for more ReBoot since the series finale of the original (which had heart, humor, and gravity. three things which TGC sorely lacks.) I just hope that this Star-Wars-Prequel-Trilogy-level trainwreck doesn't doom the IP entirely and that one day we actually get to see a real ReBoot reboot.

I've seen episodes 1-3 and episode 10 as of writing this. If the upcoming episodes or in-between episodes change my mind, then I will change my review. Thus far the show has been mediocre to average with the exception of episode 10. I will get to that in a moment.

Let's' start with the positive. The show is passable. Stereotypical teens in a high school saving the world in a computer. For its concept it is competently done with some clever concepts and the lines did get a couple laughs out of me. There are a few decent designs, and the animation ranges from "okay" to "good." The way places and programs are handled are interesting and there was clearly effort and thought to put into the conflicts and how they are handled. The actors are obviously trying very hard and having quite a bit of fun in their roles. Such as Vera, whose sass I think is written very well and the hacker villain who is basically ham, cheese, the plate, and the counter it sits on. In the best way. Additionally the actor they got to replace Tony Jay as Megabyte is doing a really good job (no easy feat) and Hex's old VA is back which is just a treat. Additionally whomever wrote their dialogue exchanges was clearly a fan and the quick witted humor and banter is outstanding. More of this please.

Now for the bad... Which is pretty much everything else. Though the show is passable as a whole, the down times are extremely boring. While the actors are clearly good, the direction and script is not and it causes the show to drag painfully at times. On top of that the graphics of the digital world are boring, generic, and downright ugly. The approach to the whole "teens save the digital world" concept is far too much like power rangers crossed with code lyoko and doesn't have enough different to stand on its own. And finally... It's just not reboot. Not the spirit of the show, not the plot of the show. None of it. The only relation to the original show itself are some buzzwords and what happens in episode 10.

Speaking of Episode 10, it alone knocked 2 stars off of this review. Very mild spoilers ahead. I was excited to see the old cast again and groaned (in a good way) when they fit Bob's speech about coming from the net and mending and defending from the show's intro into normal dialogue. This FELT like reboot. Everyone came back to reprise their role and it was just great all around. And it had Hex! Objectively one of the best characters from the original and she was written perfectly... The problem is they show the user. And it comes off as hugely insulting to fans of the original. Additionally the episode ends with a "the net is in good hands" kind of line as if the original characters are passing the torch to the new ones which was absolutely not earned even a little bit.

I wouldn't rate the show so harshly if the original didn't leave us on a cliffhanger for twenty years. If the show was standing on its own and not digging up Reboot's corpse (and episode 10 wasn't a huge insult) I would give it a solid 6/10. Unfortunately, that's not the case. It is my hope that Rainmaker learns from its mistakes and gives us the closure reboot fans want. And I hope the actors of this show understand that the poor reviews and hate this show is getting is not their fault. It's because this show is not Reboot.