I like SF. But without Denis Villeneuve I wouldn't necessarily have liked Dune. All this to set the scene and say that I expect nothing from this series of which I know, before launching the first episode, nothing. And that makes me legitimate to write a long-term review on this series: (my rating will change every week)
Episode 1: The Hidden Hand: GOT and Terminator but wiser.
Ailleit starts like a bad Terminator, with a voiceover telling a war with robots (?!) with special effects very ugly which seems very far from what we saw at Villeneuve. While we have 6 episodes to develop a solid introduction, a lot of information and characters are presented very quickly in a voluntarily sent introduction. It's almost always a bad thing to sacrifice the introduction of your main character, especially if it's not for the benefit of the rhythm and that bodes well for a series where the narration is not the main argument.
But 10 minutes later, a jump in time takes us to the real introduction of the world and characters that will take up the rest of the episode. The incipit showed us (poorly) the genesis of the main antagonist. Start with the prism of the vision of the “bad guys” is, however, a welcome narrative idea and one that is too little used. It remains to be seen, in this type of series which aims to be a choir, who will really be the good guys and the bad guys.
Visually, everything looks good and despite the unpleasant green backgrounds we find the panache of the two recent films. Very good point for a series of this budget.
It's very clear at the end of the episode, the series alambition to take the place of Game of Throneslike many others before her. With several factions, geography to remember, an arranged royal marriage and even colorimetry that looks similar in blues and yellows. Two major differences: On the one hand, GOT held back less when it came to sex, blood and insults, and on the other hand, its characters had more panache, from episode 1 onwards. Here we still feel that they are quite soft, or stereotypical, to start with the emperor.
Ambitious despite a confusing start, visually controlled, with a well-chosen soundtrack, this first hour is an introduction whose form we can say nothing about. In terms of substance and narration, we come to know GOT without ever bringing something really new or a little rubbish that would excite us to know more about the sequel.
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