Whose story arc is it, really?

[Michael Pajaro]

I wrote a review for the Firefox News blog (no relation to the browser) and it had to be a little more formal than the discussions we have on the messageboard. I wanted to write it for people who might know little or nothing about the movie, and so I had to give a quick overview of the plot without giving too much away.

I found myself struggling to figure out how to structure it. It's normally a good idea to focus on the characters. With Knight of the Phoenix, it's very straightforward to start off with "Michael Long is a Las Vegas cop..." Although Michael and KITT are partners, the overall arc is very much Michael's story.

It didn't make sense to start talking about Mike Traceur however, because so much happens that doesn't involve him. I came to realize that in many ways, Knight Rider '08 is KITT's story. KITT tells Sarah how to evade the men on campus. KITT rescues Sarah. KITT finds Mike. KITT gets them out of the casino... KITT is very autonomous throughout the movie and is coming up with ideas on his own, rather than responding to someone else's plan.

And I may be overanalyzing it a bit, but I think it's somewhat telling that there are no humans in the opening credits.

That's not to say that is any better nor worse than the Michael-focus of the original series. It's just a different perspective and could be interesting if they play it out right.

[DrWho2005]

Maybe fakeKITT could have a babe of the week too?
Ooolalala, look at that sexy little ferrari...

[HungarianKnight]

I think Ki3t is much more autonomous than Kitt for two reasons. One, his AI is more advanced, probably as advanced as Kitt with all his experiences. Two, and that's from the real-world point of view, with the advancement of remote-control technology and stuff, the filmmakers can create much more independent Ki3t scenes than they did it with Kitt in the 80's. If you watch the new pilot, you can see that Ki3t drives himself thoughout the movie, he is driven by Mike only when he is switched off and at the end where he accepts Mike as his partner.

[Duster]

You are right, Michael. The way you have described it is certainly the case in the pilot, but I doubt it will be in the series. An indicator to this is the dialogue between mike and KITT at the end of the pilot in the plane, where Mike asks KITT if he can drive and that it will become a habit.

Of course the series will show how KITT's personality evolves, but my guess is Mike's role will be much bigger in the series.