This show seems to be getting a bit maligned, and quite unfairly. It's a damned good show. Granted, it's not going to be nearly as enjoyable if you've not seen Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis --- but presumably, you've already seen both those shows in their entirety (and all associated movies). And yes, Stargate Universe is just as good, and in certain ways even better than those shows.
There are two elements of the show which do heavily detract from it; firstly, the occasional montages done to contemporary rock/pop is usually pretty bad. The choices made in the music selection were a bit too personalized to feel like they connected to the show holistically. I kind of enjoyed hearing eels included in a Stargate show, but I can understand why many fans might feel it ruined a moment. The other thing that seriously detracts at times is the silly 'shaky cam' which gets used at points (as well as imposing glares of light) which are more distracting and nauseating than artistic or atmospheric.
As for the critiques which seem frequent: the cast is too young, there aren't enough aliens, it's too 'mainstream' of a Stargate.... these are all quite unfair critiques, if actually considered in the light of what the show actually is trying to do.
Firstly, on a plot-basis, the fact that the crew is 'too young' is exactly what you're supposed to recognize, which is supposed to highlight how precarious their journey in space is. The youth of many of the cast is not merely a marketing device to hook younger viewers--- though it might indeed help do that --- but underscores the fact that many of the crew, military and civilian alike, are neither physically or mentally prepared for their situation.
The fact that the show doesn't rely on a constant stream of aliens is also not a bad thing. In this, it's kind of similar to Battlestar Galactica, which de-emphasized the vast amount of life in space with only humans and Cylons. I might add that this review is being written near the end of the first season, and while alien encounters have been scant, there may indeed be many more later. It's a bit early to call on that.
Lastly--- is Universe too commercialized, too mainstream? Not really. Personally, I find it less commercialized than Atlantis was. In fairness, this IS a 'Stargate: The Next Generation', and it does intentionally distance itself from some of the elements that the previous series relied too heavily on, at times. But it feels like a well-thought out progression of the Universe(s) that the previous series have set up so well. There's a kind of faux-intellectualism which popularizes the idea that commercialism always degrades the merit of art; this is the guise of nostalgia, which is just a trapping of advertising itself. Anyone who avoids watching a new science fiction show because it might taint the fondness they had for the old stuff has probably missed the whole thrilling sense of plunging headfirst into the unknown, which is really what good science fiction emboldens us to do.
Definitely a worthy evolution of the franchise. Recommended.
