Please see review of Episode 1 here. I won’t go over the video and audio stats again. Please refer to that article.
There’s a lot of complaining on Twitter about how Episode 2 is very dialogue-heavy, but I don’t see it that way.
This show is turning out to be a mix of Star Wars, The Expanse and Halo, which is an excellent thing! There are many different Sci-Fi environments that are well designed and presented here. It makes the action very interesting and gives a great backdrop to the story. The CGI is excellent, and certainly looks better than Star Wars did back in the day.
While Episode 1 introduced us to the characters, Episode 2 is all about setting the story up and make no mistake, this is pro-level story-telling. It does not get too ahead of itself or too far up its own backside either. Steven Spielberg’s involvement does show through and through.
As I said in my Episode 1 review, not everyone will be happy with the story or its pace – maybe wanting more action – but ultimately character development is critical for emotional engagement. For example, the movie Aliens spent the first half of its runtime – almost to the second – in setting the story with little action to have us it be emotionally invested once the action was turned up to 11 and hell was unleashed. Aliens is still the best movie of that franchise!
Master Chief – John 117 – having his helmet off is part of getting the emotional engagement happening and I think the producers actually knew what they were doing. I think this really works. I am more than certain his helmet will be firmly planted on his head once the action starts back up.
Video games don’t necessarily translate to the big screen or TV, in fact most often they don’t! However, this show is an exception. That Showtime has committed to a second season already without having seen or giving a rat’s about the ratings speaks for itself. I honestly think this will be the show to watch!
This show gets a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED badge with a score of 5 / 5.
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