Finished the first season last night, and I think there's some good stuff here, enough that I'd be willing to follow it across multiple seasons.
I enjoyed the books, and the movie, when I was a kid, but I don't think I was ever as obsessed with this property as I was Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or even Eragon. (I don't think I ever actually owned the books.) But from what I can remember of the source material, they had some very interesting jumping off points. They obviously decided earlier on that the structure of the books didn't really lend themselves to normal page-to-screen adaptation, so they chose more or less to start from scratch using established characters and mythology as a starting point, while dropping in specific moments and motifs from the book as they became available. I think the more freestyle approach really helped give characters like Helen, Mulgarath, and Lucinda a lot more to do, which I think made for a stronger product.
Christian Slater absolutely stole the show as Mulgarath. Endlessly charismatic and deliciously wicked when the moment called for it. I also really liked the girl playing Mallory.
I had mixed feelings about aging up the kids, but I think that the darker fantasy aesthetic was really fun, like a desaturated Pan's Labyrinth.
I'll admit the show didn't quite live up to all the promises it was making. I get the feeling that this show was struck down with the normal case of "first season gets like $2 per episode, and if people like it we'll give them more next season" because for a show centered on magical creatures, there were very few magical creatures displayed, which I found a little underwhelming. The whole conceit of the pages being scattered around town and being guarded by some quest-puzzle also felt entirely incidental since very little of the show was about that.
All around, the finished product felt a little disorganized, but there was enough here that I'd be willing to see the showrunners get another go at the material.
I can kind of understand why Disney would have dropped the show, though. While I wouldn't call the show "dark" (about on level with like the first season of Stranger Things, maybe slightly lighter), it did feel like it crossed a certain threshold of what Disney wants their entertainment brand to be. I'm glad it found a home after all, though, and hope it finds success here.
I enjoyed the books, and the movie, when I was a kid, but I don't think I was ever as obsessed with this property as I was Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or even Eragon. (I don't think I ever actually owned the books.) But from what I can remember of the source material, they had some very interesting jumping off points. They obviously decided earlier on that the structure of the books didn't really lend themselves to normal page-to-screen adaptation, so they chose more or less to start from scratch using established characters and mythology as a starting point, while dropping in specific moments and motifs from the book as they became available. I think the more freestyle approach really helped give characters like Helen, Mulgarath, and Lucinda a lot more to do, which I think made for a stronger product.
Christian Slater absolutely stole the show as Mulgarath. Endlessly charismatic and deliciously wicked when the moment called for it. I also really liked the girl playing Mallory.
I had mixed feelings about aging up the kids, but I think that the darker fantasy aesthetic was really fun, like a desaturated Pan's Labyrinth.
I'll admit the show didn't quite live up to all the promises it was making. I get the feeling that this show was struck down with the normal case of "first season gets like $2 per episode, and if people like it we'll give them more next season" because for a show centered on magical creatures, there were very few magical creatures displayed, which I found a little underwhelming. The whole conceit of the pages being scattered around town and being guarded by some quest-puzzle also felt entirely incidental since very little of the show was about that.
All around, the finished product felt a little disorganized, but there was enough here that I'd be willing to see the showrunners get another go at the material.
I can kind of understand why Disney would have dropped the show, though. While I wouldn't call the show "dark" (about on level with like the first season of Stranger Things, maybe slightly lighter), it did feel like it crossed a certain threshold of what Disney wants their entertainment brand to be. I'm glad it found a home after all, though, and hope it finds success here.
Statistics: Posted by PatchofBlue — Tue Apr 23, 2024 12:17 pm