Skip to main content

Rating: 3.5/5
Review: "The Shannara Chronicles season 1 TV review"

For a TV fantasy series, the scope and visuals are pretty decent considering TV series do not have the budget as a film would have.  Aside from decent visuals, The Shannara Chronicles is fairly engaging though it veers off to the safe fantasy young adult romance cliches.

Episode 1-10: Adapted from the popular novels, the first episode spends little time introducing the massive amount of characters, clans, the world and whatnot. It thrusts straight into the story where Ellcrys, an ancient tree, is dying.  Amberle, the Elven princess, must set on a journey to save it. Each episode is one step closer to the goal. Friendship and romance are forged. For a young adult series, it surprisingly has many deaths, major and minor alike. The pacing may not be as fast-paced as some big-budget fantasy films but it is packed with enough conflicts and action. Honestly, I would rather watch a condensed 3 hours film rather than watching a 10 hours long series where at times, pacing is bogged down by fillers extended to fit the TV time slot.

Ultimately, the development of most characters is almost the same when the series first introduced them. Some deaths may be a surprise but do not come across as emotional. The relationship between the trio, Wil, Amberle and Eretria is the one that stands out from the weak character's development. In the climatic battle scene in the final episode, you would be rooting for the trio to succeed. Predictably, season 1 ends with a cliffhanger to entice viewers to wait for the second season.

Overall: With decent production values, visuals and action, it is not a bad series to watch. At times when it is generic and cliche, it is saved by the attractive relationship of the trio and the tense political or evil conflicts. Not as a page by page adaptation, it is wise for fans to lower their expectations. As for the general audience, it is a decent watch if you choose to overlook the sometimes stiff acting and bogged down pacing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rating: 3.4/5 Review: "The Spirit of Ramayana" (103 minutes) "A passable Thai horror movie with an interesting concept but weak execution." As a low-budget horror movie, it has enough entertainment values. In the recent years, there are a few strong Thai horror movies with decent production values and there are many mediocre low-budget horror movies. The Spirit of Ramayana is somewhat in the middle. It may not look that polished but its themes and concept are intriguing enough. The story: The narrative is straight forward however its editing made the movie look messy and disjointed. It is a simple story about Mintra, a young dancer who is rejected for the main role because she cannot pull off an evil and sensual side. However, a spirit helps her to unleash her dark side. On paper, it sounds like a supernatural Black Swan. It lacks the emotional depth of Black Swan as the director seems only interested in churning out cheap scares. As the plot develops fur...
Post a Comment
Read more
Rating: 3.5/5 Review: "G-Force movie review" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is not all that bad, at least it tries its to be an enjoyable family movie flick. But as usual, Disney movies now are getting haters around the world due to its popular teens and live-action animals-talking movies. So now, when they see a live-action Disney movie whether it has teenagers singing or animals yapping away, they would be put off immediately. Whatever it is, G-force is fun with 3-D. Kids would like the cute animals coming near them. The story: G-Force has a simple story which is also not creative. But that it is not what kids want, they would want to see action blazing through their ways. As this being a Jerry Bruckheimer production, you can expect at least a car chase and some explosion but only more mild. Trevor Rabin did a good work in creating epic music. Though a kid movie, expect some rude humour but also at the same ti...
Post a Comment
Read more
The Five Best And Worst of 2017 Best 1. Dunkirk This is the top movie of 2017 because it was a pleasant experience in cinema. Watching this in cinema was not an initial intent however the strong reviews caught my attention. It is Christopher Nolan's best. It is short and sweet without dwelling on much. Han Zimmer's thrilling score levitates the movie to a whole new level. 2. Blade Runner 2049 It is another surprise hit for me as I did not intend to watch this in cinema too. The long runtime was partially the drawback for me but I was pleasantly surprised that I was engaged throughout the whole movie. Aside from Dennis Villeneuve's strong direction, Han Zimmer's score is on another level. 3. Thor Ragnarok Last year has been a great year. I did not expect to enjoy the third outing of Thor that much. The first one is so-so and the second one is an improvement however none of them stood out in my memories. Thor Ragnarok is definitely one of the most ...
Post a Comment
Read more