Plot: As Louis and Claudia escape to Paris after killing Lestat, and are ready to embark on new relationships in the new city. But they find themselves in a world influenced by Lestat, especially when they join the Theatre de Vampires, a performing group found by Lestat.

Review: Timed perfectly to Halloween, the 2022 debut of Interview with the Vampire beautifully updated the first volume in Anne Rice’s vast series for a new generation. With a young cast and a more overt take on the homoerotic elements of the novels, AMC’s series was designed to kickstart a cinematic universe of adaptations from the author’s works. While Mayfair Witches did not work as well, the second season of Interview with the Vampire is a welcome return to the stories of Louis, Claudia, Lestat, and more. Billed as “Part II,” the second season chronicles the back half of Rice’s novel. Expanding on subplots and deepening the characters of Armand and Santiago, this eight-episode season completes the adaptation of the source material in a far more satisfying way than the feature film did while setting a path towards future seasons taking on the subsequent books in The Vampire Chronicles.

The first season of Interview with the Vampire concludes with the reveal that Louis’ (Jacob Anderson) manservant Rashid (Assad Zaman) is the vampire Armand. Played in the feature film by Antonio Banderas, this take on Armand is far more subtle and shares a deeper connection with Louis as the film portrayed. It also puts the focus of this season on the Parisian acting troupe, Les Theatre Dus Vampires, at the center of the narrative. The troupe, a two-century-old coven of vampires, is led by Armand and lead actor Santiago. Played by Ben Daniels in the role originated by Stephen Rea in the 1994 film, Santiago is the season’s main antagonist and serves as a surrogate for Lestat’s presence. But that does not mean Lestat is not present in this run of episodes. An ever-present specter in flashbacks and physically embodied by Sam Reid in dream sequences and voice-overs, Lestat is still a formidable part of Louis and Claudia’s journey despite the relationship between Louis and Armand being at the forefront of these chapters.

The biggest change between the first season and Part II is the departure of Bailey Bass as Claudia. Now played by Delainey Hayles, something announced by a title card before the first episode like a change in a stage production, Claudia’s arc is far more detailed than in the movie. While Kirsten Dunst’s performance was exceptional, Hayles plays Claudia as a maturing woman trapped in a child’s body. The physical resemblance between Bass and Hayles helps to keep the character consistent. Still, Hayles adds a layer to her performance that accentuates the loneliness and desire beneath the surface. The fate of Claudia as part of Louis’ tale was protracted in the movie but a centerpiece of this run of episodes. Claudia’s relationship with Madeleine (Roxane Duran) is less of a desire for a mother as it was in Neil Jordan’s film and now more of a partner to spend her eternal life with. The dynamic between Louis and Claudia shifts this season with the younger vampire feeling at home with the theater troupe, something being alone with Louis never gave her.

The other expansion, as compared to the film version, is the contemporary story featuring Armand and Louis regaling reports to Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) with their history. In this series, Louis first told his story to Molloy in 1973 and returns for added details in the modern day. Having Armand and Louis share their story with Molloy offers conflicting perspectives and adds layers to the connection between the three men. The fact that Molloy suffers from Parkinson’s is also key to the narrative, and his reluctance to trust the vampires after the end of season one adds to the tension of where this story is headed. This season also adds to the Order of the Talamasca, a secret society investigating vampires and witches, with Justin Kirk serving as their representative. The Talamasca were a key figure in the first season of Mayfair Witches and are designed as a connective element for the shared Immortal Universe that AMC has planned. Their appearance in this series is limited but hopefully pans out as more than a forced connection.

The modernization of Interview with the Vampire from the late 18th century to taking place in the early 1900s and modern day helps energize the narrative. The Part II shift from New Orleans to Paris also affords a deeper look at how European culture was more inviting to minorities regarding race and sexuality. Set in the wartime era, the inclusion of Nazi influences serves as a mirror for the persecution that is a key theme in this tale. These elements are built organically into the story over the first six episodes made available for this review. Returning writers, led by Hannah Moscovitch and Rolin Jones, manage to expand this story in wonderful ways while directors Craig Zisk, Levan Akin, and more leverage the Old World aesthetics of Paris to drench this series in atmosphere. The consistency between the two seasons of Interview With The Vampire is impressive, especially considering how dramatically different the geographic settings of the halves of the story are.

Having not seen the final two episodes of the season, I know exactly where they are headed, having read the novel and seen the feature film. I am excited and terrified to see how the creative team handles the ending of this story, which is already shaping up to be very different from what has come before. Interview With The Vampire deserves the Part II subtitle rather than being saddled with being a second season. This is the rest of the story started in those first seven episodes and is shaping up to be one of the best adaptations of any novel for the small screen. With exceptional performances and expansions on Anne Rice’s source material that the author herself would have loved, Interview with the Vampire is once again one of the best series on television. Whether this dovetails into an adaptation of The Vampire Lestat or forges an original path for a third season, this is must-see programming that fans of the first season and newcomers alike will love.

Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire Part II premieres on May 12th on AMC.

Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

AMAZING

9

The post Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire Part II TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: When Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker faces sudden bankruptcy, political and business interests collide as Charlie defends his empire from those attempting to capitalize on his fall from grace. From Showrunner/ Writer/ Executive Producer David E. Kelley, A Man in Full is based on the New York Times bestselling novel by the late Tom Wolfe.

REVIEW: Jeff Daniels has had a career that includes acclaimed performances on stage in Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird and on the big screen in dozens of dramas, as well as his iconic turn in the Dumb and Dumber films opposite Jim Carrey. To say the actor has a wide range would be an understatement. To follow up his brilliant turn in Sorkin’s HBO series The Newsroom, Daniels headlines the limited Netflix series A Man In Full, which has him channeling the most nefarious antagonist characters he has ever played. With an Atlanta drawl and a biting wit, Charlie Croker is an indelible addition to Jeff Daniels’ resume. With an equally strong supporting cast including Diane Lane, Lucy Liu, Tom Pelphrey, and more, A Man In Full is a solid series but one that not only pales in comparison to the source material but also to the performances it showcases.

Acclaimed journalist Tom Wolfe only wrote four novels in his life, including his debut, The Bonfire of the Vanities, which inspired the underwhelming film of the same name. Eleven years later, A Man In Full was published and did for the 1990s what Vanities did for the 1980s. In adapting the seven-hundred-plus page book for Netflix, David E. Kelley made some updates to keep the material relevant to modern audiences while maintaining the core narrative. The six-episode series follows Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Jeff Daniels) as his empire collapses before his eyes. Opening with an opulent sixtieth birthday party complete with a live performance from Shania Twain (playing herself) and followed by an interesting sex scene in a stable, the series shifts to the plot by banker Harry Zane (Bill Camp) and Croker’s loan officer Raymond Peepgrass (Tom Pelphrey) to take him down. As the series progresses, we see every snide and spiteful act between the warring factions as they figuratively burn Atlanta to the ground.

The main thrust of A Man In Full is the downfall of Croker, something Jeff Daniels plays with fire and energy. Equally strong is his ex-wife, Martha Croker, played by Diane Lane. While Charlie is remarried to Serena (Sarah Jones), he maintains a strong but adversarial relationship with Martha and her close friend and business partner Joyce Newman (Lucy Liu). Of course, things cannot be as easy as a court case to rescue Charlie as his billion-dollar debt battle comes at the same time as other challenges, including the Mayor of Atlanta (William Jackson Harper), who needs help from Charlie’s legal counsel, Roger White (Aml Ameen). Roger is one of the more interesting characters in this series as he represents the other side of the unspoken racial divide in Atlanta, which has been key to Charlie Croker’s business success.

By eliminating the majority of subplots from the novel, the series was envisioned as a more straightforward narrative about the core characters. However, it still remains a showcase for Charlie Croker. Jeff Daniels owns every scene he is in, and there are so many excellent performances here, notably Tom Pelphrey, Sarah Jones, and Bill Camp, that they would have received more acclaim if not behind the massive figures of Daniels and Lane. It is also striking that one of the key events from the novel is gone, but not one; two horse erections still figure prominently in the story. Take that for what it is worth, but A Man In Full still feels like it has too much going on but never has the chance to dive deeper into the meaning of it, leaving the series with a soap opera-like superficial gloss.

David E. Kelley returns to legal drama with this series after great success with Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, successfully adapted bestselling novels. He blends the character melodrama of those stories with his prior network hit dramas The Practice, Boston Legal, and Ally McBeal. Like Ally McBeal, the characters in A Man In Full sometimes come across as larger than life while bordering on unrealistic, but Kelley’s penchant for dialogue keeps the series firmly on one side of that line. The six episodes were split between directors Regina King (One Night In Miami) and Thomas Schlamme. Regina King knows acting, which greatly informs her work behind the camera here, balancing the large cast of characters and varied subplots. Equally, Thomas Schlamme is a longtime collaborator with Aaron Sorkin on all of his series going back to The West Wing. A Man In Full definitely has a Sorkin-lite feel, which could be a compliment or an insult.

A Man In Full is a difficult series to review because the solid performances from the cast outshine the shallow material they have to work with. Regina King and Thomas Schlamme direct the series well, pulling Atlanta into the narrative as a character, but the lack of depth to where the story goes prevents it from hitting as deeply as it could have. A Man In Full wanted to emulate the bite and strength of Succession and Yellowstone but does not have enough satire to compete with the former or embrace the soapy melodrama like the latter. Jeff Daniels is equally on par here with Brian Cox’s fiery Logan Roy, but watching this empire fall is nowhere near as much fun. As a six-episode binge, I am sure audiences will have some fun with this show which has enough sex and face-slapping to entertain casual viewers even if it has two too many horse penises on display.

A Man In Full premieres on May 2nd on Netflix.

A Man in Full

GOOD

7

The post A Man In Full TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: A six-episode journey into the fearsome Galactic Empire through the eyes of two warriors on divergent paths, set during different eras. After losing everything, young Morgan Elsbeth navigates the expanding Imperial world toward a path of vengeance, while former Jedi Barriss Offee does what she must to survive a rapidly changing galaxy. The choices they make will define their destinies.

REVIEW: While fans have been somewhat divided over the live-action offerings in the Disney era of Star Wars, we can all agree that the animated projects have been fantastic. From the revival of The Clone Wars to the spin-off The Bad Batch and the unique anthology Visions, animated Star Wars is stronger than ever. Following the 2022 series Tales of the Jedi, the latest series again gives us a bite-sized limited series focusing on secondary characters in the Star Wars canon. Tales of the Empire sounds like it would focus on stormtroopers and Sith but instead gives us a look at two characters whose journeys are impacted by the titular group. Fitting nicely into the expanding world of Star Wars mythology, Tales of the Empire is a quick watch with some cool moments fans will definitely enjoy.

In Tales of the Jedi, the six episodes present glimpses into the lives of Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano. Opening with a story about Ahsoka’s birth, the series shifted to three episodes about Dooku before concluding with two Clone Wars-era entries. In Tales of the Empire, the six episodes are split evenly, with two sets of three episodes, each chronicling a particular character’s tale. With each entry clocking in at no more than fifteen minutes each, Tales of the Empire is structured like two mini-movies cut into bit-size segments. While this formula could work for seasons to come, it makes the release format of these tales somewhat underwhelming. This series may have felt more robust if we had six hour-long episodes focused on a single character or story. Still, Disney and Lucasfilm aim for a format that will appeal to adult fans of the expanding Star Wars universe while also allowing younger viewers with limited attention spans to engage.

The first trio of episodes centers on Morgan Elspeth, who recently played a key role in the live-action series Ahsoka. Once again, played by Diana Lee Inosanto, this tale shows us how the former Nightsister became associated with the Empire, specifically Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). Over her three episodes, we see Morgan at important moments in her past that inform her transformation into the villain she would become. The trailer footage showing General Grievous comes from one of these episodes. The short format of the fifteen-minute glimpses keeps the pace moving quickly but also limits how much we actually delve into the character, whom some Star Wars fans may not be all that interested to know about. The story ends fairly abruptly, with an ending to the third chapter that left me wondering if there would be a fourth episode to wrap things up. There are several deep-cut moments that hardcore fans will be familiar with, while the casual viewer will be left somewhat confused.

The second story arc centers on Jedi warrior Barriss Offee. Meredith Salenger reprises her voice role from The Clone Wars as one of the few survivors of Order 66 from The Revenge of the Sith. Having previously been a key ally to Ahsoka Tano, this arc also feels like another Dave Filoni-centric return to the prequel era designed to expand on Ahsoka and what is to come from that series in seasons to come. Here, Barriss’ fate is shown as being connected to the Grand Inquisitor (Jason Isaacs) and the brutal Fourth Sister (Rya Kihlstedt). There is a cameo appearance from none other than Darth Vader, which is a nice nod but unnecessary. This arc is stronger than the Morgan Elsbeth episodes, mostly due to the lightsaber action. Two key scenes are some of the darkest in any Star Wars animated series I have seen before and build to a solid showdown to wrap the final episode.

Like the previous episodes, the back half of Tales of the Empire ends with something of a cliffhanger. Dave Filoni, who serves as producer, writer, director, and now godfather of Star Wars for Lucasfilm, seems to want to whet audiences’ appetite with this anthology but fails to ignite a consistency in the limited screen time allotted here. Yes, the animation is as good as any other Star Wars, but the stories are weaker than the more polished Tales of the Jedi. At least those stories had something of an ending, whereas these are incomplete. I will say that the maturity of these episodes is much higher than that of the preceding series, with blood, death, and violence that may actually scare some younger viewers. It is nothing on screen we have not seen before, but the implication of some action hinted at off-camera is enough to scare some younglings.

Tales of the Empire is an odd title for this entry in the animated anthology as the stories, while connected to the Empire, are not directly about it. Tales of Ahsoka Tano may have been too on the nose, but that is more akin to what this season is centered on. Both storylines here are worth telling but could have been expanded far more to give audiences a satisfying and full story. As they stand, Tales of the Empire feels incomplete and would have benefitted from at least one more episode for each half of the season. The voice work is very good, as it always is with Star Wars animation, but this feels anticlimactic as the new chapter in Star Wars arrives for the franchise’s de facto holiday. Hardcore fans will be pleased, casual viewers will be underwhelmed, and everyone else will be left wanting a little more closure.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire premieres on May 4th on Disney+.

Star Wars: Tales of the Empire

AVERAGE

6

The post Star Wars: Tales of the Empire TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: The series will follow Jason Dessen, a physicist, professor, and family man who — one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago — is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the mind-bending landscape of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself.

REVIEW: Earlier this year, AppleTV+ debuted a series about alternate realities and dueling versions of characters in Constellation. That series carried a heavy science fiction focus that showed how parallel universes can carry paranoid variations on the lives of characters shifting between worlds. Dark Matter mines similar territory but in a far more grounded manner. Using the conceits of the thriller genre, Dark Matter adapts the best-selling novel by Blake Crouch into a masterful genre outing that defies the conventions of sci-fi with a broader tale full of twists, turns, and stellar performances from Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Connelly, and Alice Braga. Captivating from the first episode, Dark Matter is exceptional storytelling.

Dark Matter opens with Jason Dessen, a physicist living in Chicago, his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), and their son Charlie (Oakes Fegley) leading a happy life as a family. Working as a professor at a local college, Jason learns that his best friend Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) has won a prestigious science prize, which he has yearned to achieve. Never questioning his decisions in life, Jason is offered a job by Ryan, which would upend their happy home in Chicago. On his way home, Jason is mugged by a masked assailant who forces him to strip to his boxers and enter a strange room in an abandoned warehouse. After an odd conversation, Jason passes out, only to awaken in an unfamiliar facility where he meets Amanda (Alice Braga) and other unfamiliar people. Paranoid, Jason breaks out of the facility only to discover he is not in his own reality while his doppelganger has taken his place alongside Daniela.

Echoing Jason’s opening reference to the Schroedinger’s Cat thought experiment, Dark Matter delves into the idea of what a single change in decision-making could lead to. In the alternate world, Jason has created a machine that allows humans to traverse these distinct timelines, something his double has used to go to a world where he stayed with the love of his life. This triggers two narratives following unique genre structures to tell a fascinating and complex story. In one timeline, Alternate Jason is the strange one surrounded by people who feel something off about him, while in the other, Main Jason must come to terms with being the fish out of water in a world foreign to him. It is a brilliant and original way to focus a story like this that allows for elements of paranoid thrillers to mix with complex scientific ideas.

It also helps that Joel Edgerton is a fantastic lead as both versions of Jason Dessen. Edgerton is an incredibly talented actor who embodies an everyman quality in these roles while giving the audience a way to orient themselves to this convoluted myriad of universes. Jennifer Connelly and Alice Braga are equally skilled at playing different relationships that are key to each version of Jason, who must acclimate themselves to men who are not who they truly know. The whole cast is quite good, especially Jimmi Simpson and Dayo Okeniyi as colleagues of Jason’s who factor into the scientific process that kickstarts this tale. Altogether, Dark Matter must traverse some tricky plot conundrums but pulls it off without much of an issue. Because of how strong the acting is in this series, you are easily able to commit to the mind-altering complexity of this story.

Novelist Blake Crouch had previously attempted to adapt his book for a feature film. Still, the nine-episode series format benefits the narrative far better than a two-hour movie ever could. By changing elements of his novel and expanding others, Crouch himself has stated the series is an improvement over the source material. Filmed on location in Chicago, the series does not rely on significant special effects, but that does not mean this series is not deeply rooted in science fiction. The directing team, led by Jakob Verbruggen on the first three episodes and followed by helmers Logan George & Celine Held, Alik Sakharov, and Roxann Dawson, use the urban landscape of the city in both daytime and noir-esque night sequences that add to the atmosphere and mood of Dark Matter. This series looks fantastic and offers a look, unlike many other genre offerings on television, along with an eerie score by Mindhunter composer Jason Hill.

Whether you have read the novel or not, avoid any details about Dark Matter if you can help it. There are so many great angles this story takes that are unconventional for a series like this that discovering them from episode to episode enhances the experience of this story. Based on the cast alone, Dark Matter is worth checking out. AppleTV+ continues to excel as a home for creative expansions in the science fiction genre, but Dark Matter may be their best project since Severance. After the premiere episodes debut, Dark Matter will move to a weekly release schedule, and I cannot think of a better way to parse out this great tale that will have audiences theorizing week to week about what will come next.

Dark Matter premieres with two episodes on May 8th on AppleTV+.

Dark Matter

AMAZING

9

The post Dark Matter TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: Set in 1991 Los Angeles, the story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor’s edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth, something ominous and malevolent grips her and her family…

REVIEW: The first season of Them debuted on Prime Video close to the one-year mark after COVID-19. Marketed as the small-screen continuation of Jordan Peele’s brand of big-screen horror, the series blended social commentary, political relevance, and disturbing imagery as it chronicled the Emory family’s move to Southern California. Led by a great performance by Deborah Ayorinde, Them (subtitled Covenant) was almost too violent for its own good. While I enjoyed the first season, I was intrigued to see where series creator Little Marvin could take the concept of Black Horror in subsequent chapters. The second volume, titled Them: The Scare, continues to mine the overarching themes of the anthology but with a much different approach to horror. Beautiful and haunting in its visuals with a pair of stellar leading performances, Them: The Scare only lacks the one thing it set out to be: scary.

Set four decades after Them: Covenant, this season is set in Los Angeles during the tumultuous period when the Rodney King beating and subsequent riots sent shockwaves through the country. With L.A. on edge and the police in the crosshairs for everyone, this tension makes for a perfect setting to kick off Them: The Scare. The series opens with a disturbing crime scene that introduces us to Detective Dawn Reeve, played by Deborah Ayorinde in a distinct role from her season one character. Here, Detective Reeve investigates a horrific death that no one else in the LAPD wants to be involved with. Reeve takes on the case, which irks racist colleague Detective Ronald McKinney (Jeremy Bobb) while allowing Reeve’s boss (Wayne Knight) to see if she can redeem herself after a controversial incident in her recent past. As Reeve dives into the crime, it elicits memories and nightmares from her past that connect to her mother, Athena (Pam Grier), and her son, Kel (Joshua J. Williams).

The series also follows Edmund Gaines (Luke James), an aspiring actor who works at a Chuck E. Cheese-esque restaurant. Gaines has a connection of his own to the crime, which also presents itself in a way that separates his narrative arc from Reeve’s, drawing parallels between them. Them: The Scare intertwines the plots of Reeve and Gaines in unique ways that analyze how the foster care system and the concept of nature versus nurture can alter the life trajectory of anyone in its path. It also allows the series to build two very different horror stories using imagery that echoes the tensions of Los Angeles in the early 1990s and various horrors throughout African American history. The approach to telling the story this season is awash in visuals that firmly entrench the tale in the last decade of the twentieth century and take advantage of period-appropriate music and the recently popular “analog horror” trend that gives the series a retro look with a hazy and dreamlike appearance straight off of an old VHS tape. The clean look of season one gives way to a much fuzzier but haunting visual style throughout this run of episodes.

The look and style of Them: The Scare absolutely work wonders here as it evokes a visual palette that is as impressive as any feature film production. The costume design and effects work on horror elements, creating an immersive experience. The acting is also something to behold, especially from Ayorinde and James, who appear in virtually every scene of the eight-episode season. All the actors are well cast, with the legendary Pam Grier a welcome return to the screen despite being woefully under-utilized here. Grier is solid in every scene, but her limited screen time feels like a missed opportunity to give the actress a showcase and expand the story beyond what we end up getting. That seems to be a recurring issue with Them: The Scare, which still digs into the idea of Black horror but takes far too long to build up the tension without a satisfactory payoff. This is not to say that there are no scares in the season, but they are peppered throughout the episodes and never stick around long enough to really land the way the writers had hoped. The pacing is deliberately slow to try and build the burn that other atmospheric horror stories have used to their advantage, but Them: The Scare feels underwhelming.

Series showrunner Little Marvin weaves an intriguing concept that directly connects to the previous season, but I won’t divulge what they are here. Little Marvin has credits on two of the eight episodes, along with an all-new staff of writers, including Tony Saltzman and Malcolm M. Mays. Neither Scott Kosar, Sarah Cho, Beverly Okhio, and Matt Almquist worked on the first season. The series does feature Little Marvin directing an episode alongside returning helmers Craig William Macneil and Ti West, the latter directing the excellent final episode this season. Other directors include Axelle Caolyn (The Haunting of Bly Manor) and Guillermo Navarro (Preacher, Hannibal), adept at evoking the story’s tension. The ideas behind the mythology that builds this series are as evocative as the first season, but where Them: Covenant was brutal and in your face, The Scare aims to take a more subtle and ethereal sense of horror and dread. There are definitely grisly moments here and the scariest Raggedy Ann doll you will ever see, but Them: The Scare thinks it is more frightening than it actually is.

When you boldly call out The Scare in your subtitle, you better live up to your own hype. Unfortunately, as well-acted and beautifully filmed as this season is, it never delivers on being scary. There are scary moments, and individual images work out of context. Still, the languid pacing actually works against the horror by presenting a disjointed narrative that would have been far more terrifying had it been propulsive instead of a slow burn. Deborah Ayorinde once again delivers a strong leading performance, balanced by Luke James, which makes Them: The Scare worth checking out, but it does not work, as a whole, as well as last season. Still, where this anthology could go next hopefully builds on the creativity displayed in these first two runs and learns from their shortcomings.

Them: The Scare is now streaming on Prime Video.

Them: The Scare

AVERAGE

6

The post Them: The Scare TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: Teenagers born decades apart who find each other only in death, Edwin and Charles are best friends and ghosts… who solve mysteries. They will do anything to stick together – including escaping evil witches, Hell and Death herself. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal and her friend Niko, they are able to crack some of the mortal realm’s most mystifying paranormal cases. 

REVIEW: Last year, the long-anticipated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s seminal graphic novel saga The Sandman became a hit for Netflix. With a new generation of viewers discovering the morbidly fascinating world of The Endless, Gaiman’s expansive comic book and literary canon is finally being recognized by a wider audience. While we wait for the series’s second season, Netflix has a spin-off set within the same cinematic universe. Dead Boy Detectives features many direct and tangential connections to The Sandman that will keep audiences searching the screen for easter eggs. More importantly, it is a good show. With a lighter tone but no less dark and disturbing subject matter, Dead Boy Detectives is a more direct and binge-able series than The Sandman but every bit as fun.

Set in the present day, Dead Boy Detectives opens with Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the brawn” behind a private investigator agency that solves crimes for and featuring the undead. Their first case incorporates direct connections to The Endless with a cameo by Death (Kirby) that has been teased in the trailer. Right off the bat, we get the dynamic between the ghostly teens who died at very different times. Edwin is a bit more restrained, having been alive in the 1910s, while Charles is more cavalier and worldly as he hails from the 1980s. Respect and friendship tightly connect the pair, who have distinct strengths and weaknesses as they complement each other on cases. A solid chemistry between Rexstrew and Revri is paramount to why Dead Boy Detectives works as well as it does.

Rather than the existential scale of The Sandman, Dead Boy Detectives plays squarely in the teen drama genre. But before you lump this series in with Riverdale or similar fare on The CW, know that Dead Boy Detectives deals with the angst and emotions of teenagers but never feels overwrought or unnecessary. Much of the dynamic of the series comes from the growing agency when Crystal Palaces (Kassius Nelson) joins the team after Edwin and Charles save her from a demon who is also Crystal’s ex. A psychic, Crystal is a living person who can interact with the dead boys, making her a great addition to the team. It also adds a wrinkle as Charles has a crush on her, which throws a wedge in Edwin’s unrequited feelings. The trio expands into a quartet when Crystal’s friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura) joins the crew. As they investigate mysteries, hinted at by the old school episode titles that often start with “The Case Of…”, the series finds a nice rhythm that continues through all eight episodes.

The series follows a traditional television procedural formula as each episode ostensibly works as a standalone monster-of-the-week with overarching connections to the main narrative. At the center of the series, Edwin and Charles are trying to avoid Death herself so that they do not get taken away from Earth and sent to the Afterlife, a big issue as Edwin would get sent to Hell on a technicality. Having seen the entire series, I am unsure how anyone could jump in and watch a single episode without starting from the beginning, but Dead Boy Detectives is a really easy binge that could draw in almost any audience, fan of the genre or not. It also helps that the series has some really fun characters like Lukas Gage as Cat King and Ruth Connell reprising her Doom Patrol role as Night Nurse. That’s right, Dead Boy Detectives also connects to the DC Universe, notably as it was originally set as an HBO Max spin-off from Doom Patrol. Sharing similar tonal qualities, this series is far better set as a connection to The Sandman.

Developed by The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey and produced by The CW/DC superproducer Greg Berlanti, Dead Boy Detectives boasts a solid roster of writers and directors, led by Lee Toland Krieger on the first episode. The series’ production values are consistently good as they avoid falling into the mediocre arena of television CGI. The monster and supernatural effects are achieved with more make-up than computer enhancement, which gives them a tangible quality, while the sense of humor feels decidedly British. The mix of UK and American talent in the cast gives the series a global feel despite the London setting for most of the action. I also felt similarities to Doom Patrol and The Sandman while watching each episode, even though this series has a unique sensibility that makes it all its own.

The first season of Dead Boy Detectives is fast and easy to binge which may make some feel it is not quite the same level of depth as The Sandman. While existing in the same world, they are very different series but ones that complement each other very well. While The Sandman evokes questions about our own existence and mortality, Dead Boy Detectives is a lot of fun with a group of characters that are enjoyable to watch. There are certainly stakes for these characters, and I would love to see them get raised in a second season, but as it is, Dead Boy Detectives is a show you can casually watch and enjoy or pay close attention to for connections to a larger universe. Whichever route you take when you put this show on your television, I am pretty confident you will enjoy it.

Dead Boy Detectives premieres on April 25th on Netflix.

Dead Boy Detectives

GOOD

7

The post Dead Boy Detectives TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: Explores the surprising and fraught relationship between two women who play a deadly game of truth and lies on the road from Istanbul to Paris and London. One woman has a secret, the other a mission to reveal it before thousands of lives are lost. In the shadows, mission controllers at the CIA and French DGSE must put differences aside and work together to avert potential disaster.

REVIEW: Since her breakout role in Mad Men as Peggy Olsen, Elisabeth Moss has turned in stellar performance after performance. With The Handmaid’s Tale and The Invisible Man, Moss has shown her range in playing strong characters in distinct situations and genres. Still, her latest project, The Veil, puts her into a role that we would commonly expect to see from male actors in action-heavy projects. Created by Steven Knight, The Veil is far from Mission: Impossible or James Bond but still presents a tense espionage narrative about two women who could very well stop a massive event from claiming many people’s lives. While the series could benefit from added speed, the short episode count keeps the story moving and the secrets unraveling.

The Veil opens with a shot of Elisabeth Moss’ legs as she walks towards a man in the airport. Clad in heels and sporting a British accent, it seems at first that we will see Moss undercover, but within sixty seconds, she reveals Interpol arrests her ruse and the man. Walking away, Moss’ character requests her handler send her back to London and that her next name be Imogen. It is a quick scene that sets the tone of who Imogen is and her commanding presence, something that we glimpse more and more as the series progresses. But, as she heads back to England, she is waylaid at the Syrian border at a refugee camp. There, she meets Adilah (Yumna Marwan), a woman accused of being ISIS and hated by the other refugees. The first episode spends time building a rocky alliance between Imogen and Adilah as they reveal some criminal acts at the camp. As the episode wraps, we realize there is more to the meeting of these two women than circumstance.

Over the remaining five episodes, the reason Imogen is the way she is comes to light, as does how Adilah arrived at the refugee camp and what her importance is to international agencies. It is a small-scale series focused on character development but with a global bend that shifts the action from European cities to isolated mountain roads as Imogen and Adilah traverse the continent toward their ultimate goal. What that is, I won’t spoil here, but it is a well-constructed yet convoluted plot structure that kept me interested for all six episodes. What works to allow the viewer to invest in this series is the performance from Moss and Marwan. Moss, whose British accent is subtle but believable, plays Imogen as a series of masks overlaying the real MI6 agent underneath. Using her guile and coquettish smile to ingratiate herself with targets, Imogen is a broken person underneath who only reveals her true self to handler Malik (Dali Benssalah). She also has something of a nemesis in her CIA liaison, Max (Josh Charles), whose motivations seem anything but altruistic.

The other major component that makes The Veil work is Yumna Marwan. An experienced actress with credits over the last decade, Marwan almost steals the show from Moss here. Adilah is another layered character and one who holds her own opposite the skilled Imogen. Since this series primarily centers on Moss as Imogen, Marwan can slowly parse out details of who Adilah is, allowing Imogen to learn then as the audience does. Of course, both women know they cannot fully trust one another and we are given the insight to know who is keeping what from the other. Moss and Marwan work very well together, complimenting one another’s take on the characters without turning this story into something aligned with a partnership narrative. These two women have agendas and align their paths when needed, but each has a goal in mind that may or may not be in the best interest of the other.

Steven Knight has had a steady career of successful series, many of which have debuted on FX or Hulu. While Peaky Blinders may be his best-known project, Knight’s work on Taboo, See, Great Expectations, and All The Light We Cannot See, along with big screen projects like Locke and Eastern Promises, all show his character-based approach to storytelling. Knight has created a female-led series with The Veil, something he has not often built around. Still, he does a phenomenal job of making Imogen and Adilah three-dimensional characters not based solely on their gender. It also helps that this limited series only relies on two filmmakers rather than an entire team of directors. Daina Reed helmed the first three chapters, while Damon Thomas handled the last three. The consistency in filmmakers helps keep the tone and approach to the story uniform across all chapters, but the hand-off between three and four struggles due to Knight’s scripts weighed down by so much going on.

While The Veil does not boast massive running scenes, gigantic explosions of nuclear fallout, or even mountaintop helicopter crashes, this series is full of tense moments that rival big-screen spy movies. But, to invest in a series like this you either need a great deal of patience or a love of the talent involved. I binged The Veil, based solely on Elisabeth Moss and Steven Knight, and I found it an enjoyable series, even if it drags slightly in the middle. This is a performance-based story with two capable leads, including Yumna Marwan, who should land countless roles in English-language projects after this series debuts. The Veil is a thinking person’s spy story and will require you to pay attention as you follow the countless tangled threads that come together and rip apart as this story unfolds.

The Veil premieres with two episodes on April 30th on FX on Hulu.

The Veil

GOOD

7

The post The Veil TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

PLOT: The new live-action event series follows Knuckles on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior.

REVIEW: It is hard to believe that Sonic The Hedgehog premiered on the big screen just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. What is even harder to believe is that the movie was actually pretty good. With a sequel released two years later and Sonic The Hedgehog 3 slated for December 2024, the world is chock full of SEGA goodness these days. To bridge the wait until the end of this year, the six-episode limited series Knuckles highlights the Idris Elba-voiced echidna warrior’s journey to find his place in our world. Featuring limited connections to the movies, Knuckles has its moments but overall feels like an attempt to tread water until the third film comes out thanks to an inconsequential plot and surprisingly limited screentime for the titular character. More of a showcase for Adam Pally, reprising his minor role from the first two movies, Knuckles is going to draw in a large audience of kids excited to see the animated heroes but who will be underwhelmed by how little they appear on screen.

Of the six episodes of Knuckles, the first episode is by far the best. Directed by Sonic the Hedgehog helmer Jeff Fowler, the opening episode is the sole entry that features Sonic (Ben Schwartz), Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey), and Maddie (Tika Sumpter). After the events of the second film, Knuckles is still struggling to find his place on Earth, specifically within the confines of Green Hills, Montana. While Tom Wachowski is out of town, Knuckles (Idris Elba) causes chaos around the house and must find a place for himself, thanks to the spiritual guidance of his fellow echidna, Pachamac (Christopher Lloyd). Knuckles decides that his mission is to help Deputy Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) on his journey to win a bowling tournament in Reno, Nevada. You read that right: Knuckles is a video game-themed twist on the Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid-led film Kingpin. Almost immediately after leaving Green Hills, Knuckles shows up on the radar of two G.U.N. agents, Mason (Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi) and Willoughby (Ted Lasso‘s Ellie Taylor) who work for one of Doctor Robotnik’s former employees who calls himself The Buyer (Game of Thrones‘ Rory McCann). The Buyer, like Robotnik, wants to harness the extraterrestrial power of Knuckles’ quills and has created some gadgets for Mason and Whilloughby to use.

If that were the core plot of Knuckles, it would probably be a pretty decent series. The first episode boasts solid action between Knuckles and the two G.U.N. (Guardian Unit of Nations) agents; the next five episodes are very hit-and-miss. Many of the series follow a road trip format, with the direct showdowns between the hero and the villain taking a backseat to Wade’s personal journey. This includes a side trip to Wade’s childhood home where he and Knuckles celebrate the Jewish sabbath with Wade’s mother, Wendy (Stockard Channing), and his FBI agent sister, Wanda (Edi Patterson). Knuckles comes to appreciate the Jewish customs, and Idris Elba continues to do great work as the stoic warrior, but each episode seems to use Knuckles as a plot device to tell Wade’s story. We get a little background on Knuckles aside from his spiritual messages with Pachamac and a couple of well-placed action sequences in the first, third, and final episodes. There are long stretches across the series that do not even have Knuckles in them as Adam Pally takes center stage as the goofy Wade. Pally is a good comedic actor, but his arc just does not seem worth devoting three hours of screen time when audiences want to see Knuckles kicking ass and beating up bad guys.

The supporting cast here is better than it has any right to be, but everyone seems to be appearing in different series. The first episode is the most similar to the Sonic movies, while subsequent episodes are all over the place. Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh) plays Wade’s friend, Jack Sinclair, an overly dramatic bounty hunter. Scott Mescudi barely registers as Mason, while Ellie Taylor is oddly sexy as the severe-haircut-wielding Willoughby. Rory McCann appears in just a couple of scenes and not nearly enough to justify his character as a villain, while Cary Elwes does his best as the Bill Murray-surrogate villain bowler, Pistol Pete. Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel appear as the commentators for the bowling tournament in a nod to Jason Bateman and Gary Cole in Dodgeball, but their appearance will go over the heads of younger viewers. Every person in the cast is funny and plays their roles well, but they all feel like they were cast and then picked their roles out of a hat to populate this series.

The series, created by John Whittington, boasts scripts by Whittington, Brian Schacter, and James Madejski. Directing duties fall to Sonic the Hedgehog helmer Jeff Fowler on the premiere, with Ged Wright, Brandon Trost, Jorma Taccone, and Carol Banker on the remaining five. The production values are limited to a couple of action set pieces, one inside Wade’s childhood home and the other on the streets of Reno, Nevada. Most of the rest of the series relies on interiors or green screen exteriors. The animation quality of Knuckles is as good as the movie, but his limited time on the screen should tell you how much budget was allotted for this show. Only Idris Elba is consistent and good in this series, with everyone else feeling more like a cartoon than the animated character does. If this had been compressed into a feature film that gave us more of what we get in the first and last episodes, Knuckles would have worked better for me.

The six episodes of Knuckles each clock in right around thirty minutes each which means we mercifully do not need to spend an inordinate amount of time with this series, but it still feels overlong and does not have enough Knuckles in it. I started having a blast with the series, but as each episode progressed, I became less and less enthusiastic about it. What starts out as a solid spin-off from Sonic the Hedgehog quickly devolves into an unnecessarily convoluted story about a character most people do not even remember who happens to hang out with Knuckles. If this had been an origin story or had featured more of Idris Elba, I likely would have enjoyed it more. As it stands, Knuckles is a short batch of six episodes that still feels about an hour-and-a-half too long. There is not enough action or development related to the title character with an uneven focus on secondary characters. Kids will be disappointed, and adults will be bored. It is a shame because I laughed at multiple moments that will stick with me that did not overcome the lackluster project as a whole.

Knuckles premieres on April 26th on Paramount+.

Knuckles

AVERAGE

6

The post Knuckles TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: The Grace family moves from Brooklyn, New York, to their ancestral home in Henson, Michigan, the Spiderwick Estate. Helen makes the move with her 15-year-old fraternal twin boys, Jared and Simon, and her older daughter, Mallory. Shortly after moving to the Spiderwick Estate, Jared discovers a boggart and realizes that magical creatures are real! The only one to believe him is his great-aunt Lucinda, who implores Jared to find the pages of her father’s field guide to magical creatures and protect them from the murderous Ogre, Mulgarath.

Review: Based on the popular young adult novel series of the same name, The Spiderwick Chronicles comes a decade-and-a-half after Paramount Pictures’ big-screen adaptation was a moderate success at the box office and with critics. Taking a cue from other YA films like A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter, and other similar early 21st-century franchises, The Spiderwick Chronicles books combines fantasy, humor, and a family-centric story with a Ferngully flair for good measure. Initially set up as a Disney+ original, The Spiderwick Chronicles reboot updates the book narrative for a new generation with a slightly darker tone and improved special effects. With a solid cast of newcomers and Christian Slater chewing the scenery as the villain, this series attempts to supplant a lack of energy or originality with a couple of unique twists. While the effort is sincere, The Spiderwick Chronicles does not rise to the bar necessary for a series to thrive past a single season.

While Freddie Highmore led the 2008 film in a dual role as the Grace twins, this series features Lyon Daniels and Noah Cottrell as twins Jared and Simon Grace. Stepping in for elder sibling Mallory is Mychala Lee, who takes over from Sarah Bolger, while Joy Bryant replaces Mary-Louise Parker as their mother, Helen Grace. The Grace clan, fresh off the divorce of Helen from the unseen Richard Grace, move to their familial estate, Spiderwick, since Lucinda Spiderwick (Charlayne Woodard) remains in a senior care facility. Hoping to make a fresh start, Grace’s move is precipitated by a need for stronger psychiatric care for Jared, who suffers from Oppositional Defiance Disorder. By adding in an increasingly common diagnosis, The Spiderwick Chronicles trades in on Jared being a problem child or a rabble-rouser by giving him a formal disability. This also allows Jared to forge a bond with the other outcasts, including Emiko (Momona Tamada) and Hatcher (Hunter Dillon). Soon after arriving at Spiderwick, Jared and his family discover strange things, including the diminutive creature and troublemaker Thimbletack (voiced by Shazam‘s Jack Dylan Grazer). Almost immediately, the fantasy and reality of this world blend, and there is no looking back. Each episode connects serially to the preceding chapters with deepening mythology that builds this fantastical world and how the Grace and Spiderwick families and the Field Guide created by Arthur Spiderwick and why Mulgarath wants to possess it.

As the eight-episode first season of The Spiderwick Chronicles progresses, it resembles another series about a stately mansion full of supernatural beings and a villainous monster after a trio of siblings. Like Netflix’s Locke & Key, The Spiderwick Chronicles has a blend of mild profanity and mature themes peppered into a coming-of-age story. The aged-up protagonist from middle to high school affords more material for the writers, but it still feels a bit hokey overall. Luckily, there is Christian Slater. Coming off his work on the Disney+ series Willow and his acclaimed turn on Mr. Robot, Slater seems to be having a lot of fun chewing the scenery in the human form of the evil ogre Mulgarath. Played by Nick Nolte in the movie, Slater has fun making Mulgarath more of a direct nemesis for the Grace family, along with the monster posing as human teen Calliope (Chucky‘s Alyvia Alyn Lind). The two share some of the best moments in the series as they prepare to take over the planet and consume humanity, but Alyvia Lind seems to have the more layered role. Slater spends most of his time trying to be menacing and occasionally showing glimpses of his true form.

At first, I was hopeful that this series would impress me. I enjoyed the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the first season of Goosebumps, but The Spiderwick Chronicles begins to struggle at the halfway point of the season. As menacing as Christian Slater can be, Mulgarath’s plan seems overwrought and stretched out for twice as many episodes as it should. Adding characters here to get more screen time, like Bree Kent (Mellany Barros) and fencing instructor Valentina (The Light We Cannot See star Aria Mia Loberti), makes the main narrative take longer to get going than it should. The production values are good and the special effects solid, but the series feels like it is repeating an overly familiar plot formula from one episode to the next. Artificial cliffhangers and misdirects meant to make us mistrust the main characters end up feeling like cliche twists that can be spotted a mile away.

Showrunner Aron Eli Coleite (Heroes, Daybreak, Ultimate X-Men) adapts the novels from writers Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black in a way that honors the integrity of the original books while forging a totally unique plot. The series is set up to be the first of multiple seasons, something I am not confident will come to pass, but it uses the vast majority of the plot from the published novels. That means future seasons could be wholly original tales if they ever happen. The first two episodes are directed by Kat Coiro (She-Hulk: Attorney At Law) and incorporate roles for her husband, Rhys Coiro, and She-Hulk breakout Patty Guggenheim. Still, subsequent entries in the season fail to capitalize on the tone and mood she sets up in the initial entries. So much of this series reminded me of better productions, including Wednesday and the aforementioned Locke & Key, that I wondered why this series even exists. That may sound harsh, but it just became progressively more challenging over the course of the series to understand why this was not a movie instead of a long-form series.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a difficult series to rate because it has many positives, mostly in the able cast, solid special effects, and a more mature tone compared to the 2008 movie. Unfortunately, the overwrought family drama and slow yet repetitive pacing make for a series that is hard to get into. Because this is YA material, I may not be the target audience for this type of story. Still, the talent behind the scenes has been capable of generating narratives that work for kids and adults alike. The Spiderwick Chronicles has a distinct enough mythology that it could garner enough of a fan base to garner a season two. Still, I was underwhelmed by how mediocre the overall first season ended, leaving me without any desire to see where this story could go next.

The Spiderwick Chronicles premieres on April 19th on The Roku Channel.

The Spiderwick Chronicles

AVERAGE

6

The post The Spiderwick Chronicles TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.

Plot: Based on acclaimed author Rebecca Godfrey’s book about the 1997 true story of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk who went to join friends at a party and never returned home. Through the eyes of Godfrey and a local police officer, the series takes us into the hidden world of the young girls accused of the murder — revealing startling truths about the unlikely killer.

Review: While crime exists worldwide, North America’s glut of true crime stories is centered on the United States. We often take for granted that our neighbors in the Great White North are more than America’s nice neighbors or denizens of the Fifty-First State. Canada is a massive country with its own good and bad, with crimes just as heinous as anything we see in America. While the events depicted in Under The Bridge are not as scary as serial killer tales, the story it retells is every bit as disturbing. Chronicling the horrific murder of a teenage girl in 1997, Under The Bridge takes a look at a rash of crimes perpetrated by troubled youths and the impact it has on the victims, their families, and everyone involved. With a muted turn from Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone’s first major role since Flowers of the Killer Moon, Under The Bridge is an emotionally troubling story wrapped in a series that struggles to keep itself interesting.

Set in November 1997, Under The Bridge opens with a disclaimer that while this story is true, events have been altered for dramatic purposes. Not to undermine the shocking nature of the crimes that are committed in the series, but a bit more dramatization could have helped the series. The first episode introduces us to Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta), a second-generation Indian-Canadian whose parents are devout Jehovah’s Witnesses. Reena hangs out with a group of girls from a local youth home who smoke weed, commit crimes, and follow Josephine Bell (Chloe Guidry), a girl who idolizes mobster John Gotti and the West Coast Crips gang lifestyle. When Reena crosses Josephine, a fight results, after which Reena disappears. As her parents, Manjit (Ezra Farouke Khan) and Suman (Archie Panjabi), hope for her safe return, the investigation turns grim. What follows is a blend of investigation, journalism, and criminal law that spans eight episodes.

While the teen characters are at the forefront of this story, the adult protagonists frame the tale with their own baggage. Riley Keough portrays writer Rebecca Godfrey, who authored the book Under The Bridge is based on. Returning home to write about the teen girls of the small British Columbia town she grew up in. Sporting a choppy bob haircut and constantly smoking, Keough is haunted by a crime that impacted her family when she was a kid. The lead cop investigating the murder of Reena Virk is Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone), who shares a past with Rebecca connected to that long-ago crime. Cam and Rebecca, former friends and now adversaries, share a decent amount of screen time together, but the bulk of Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone’s work is separate from one another. Keough’s investigation of the teen suspects allows her to forge a bond with Warren Glowatski (Javon Walton), with whom she feels a kinship. Cam has her own path as she tries to do right by the victim while positioning herself for a promotion to the Major Crimes unit. This also puts her on a direct path to discovering her own familial roots, connecting her, her adoptive father and boss Roy (Matt Craven), and the youth home many of the suspects live at.

Full of throwbacks to 1990s songs, including the titular Nirvana track and the music of Biggie Smalls, Under The Bridge reminded me quite a bit of True Detective: Night Country and the HBO limited series The Night Of. Both series dealt with similar crimes that impacted a minority main character. While Night Country handled the indigenous characters well and The Night Of focused on South Asian protagonists, Under The Bridge tries to tackle those elements but with more of a procedural angle. At times, Under The Bridge seems like an extended episode of Law & Order, albeit without the witty one-liners. This series is full of cliffhangers and twists that are meant to keep you glued to the screen, but it undermines the power of an already powerful story. The saving grace here is Lily Gladstone, who, once again, steals the show with a subtle yet strong performance. Riley Keough is good, but she does not have the energy or the presence that this character needs. Both actors shine when they share the screen, but only Gladstone thrives when they are apart.

Created for television by Quinn Shephard, who wrote and directed two episodes, Under The Bridge has some solid performances but sometimes struggles to fill eight hours of running time without the strain of wearing it thin. Fellow directors Geeta Patel, Kevin Phillips, Nimisha Mukerji, and Dinh Thai keep the colors muted and the tone somber. In contrast, director Catherine Hardwicke brings the sole big screen acumen to the production. Shephard adapted the series from Rebecca Godfrey’s book, and production began just as Godfrey passed away from cancer, but her impact on the story remains. The writing staff, including Ashley Cardiff, Jihan Crowther, Stuti Malhotra, Tom Hanada, Tom Crittenden, and Samir Mehta, all do a good job of giving us a look at the harsh lives these troubled teens live and how their lies completely change the path of everyone involved directly and tangentially. The problem is that the copious red herrings lessen the impact of this message and misdirects used to keep the series afloat for eight episodes.

With a great turn from Lily Gladstone, a solid performance from Archie Panjabi, and a decent one from Riley Keough, Under The Bridge tells a story that in and of itself was worthy of an adaptation. I am not convinced this series strikes the right balance, as it could have told just as strong of a narrative in half the number of episodes. At eight hours, Under The Bridge sometimes feels like a slog and not as tense or thrilling as it deserves to be. I commend the actors for their work here and feel even more proof now that Lily Gladstone is an actress of rare talent, but this production is too slow and too long to be worth the full investment. You could watch the first three episodes, wait for the finale, and find it just as engaging as the entire series. True crime buffs will find some worthwhile elements here, but anyone else may be underwhelmed.

Under the Bridge premieres on April 17th on Hulu.

Under The Bridge

AVERAGE

6

The post Under The Bridge TV Review appeared first on JoBlo.