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The Winter King (2023)
Unfaithful adaptation
This review is from someone who has read and loves the books. While I understand that some adaptation needs to happen to fit this complex narrator-driven story for the screen, I feel that some of the corners that were cut were not trivial.
Final Edit:
I can't do it. I'm on episode 6 where Guinevere and Ceinwyn are introduced. The dialogue juvenile. Okay now Derfel has a mullet, classic Saxon trailer park fare. I advise others to turn off their screen and read the book instead. Better yet, Audible's recording narrated by Jonathan Keeble is fantastic.
Edit after episode 2:
ep 2 is chaotic, and lacks cohesion in editing. The acting is good, and it is nice to see some events from the book portrayed, although again, they are adapted and delivered in a way that is less satisfying than what happens in the book. I'm annoyed at Morgan's character, as she is simply nothing like the twisted, scarred and bitter character from the book. The shades of character seem to have been reduced to "good guy" and "bad guy". Arthur at least is supposed to be nauseatingly "good", but Merlin, Morgan, Namue, Owain....come on. Give these characters back their grit! Their nuance! I think my score still stands but I will continue to edit as episodes come out (I swore an oath to finish the series).
Original review:
First, Merlin's character thus far is far from what he was in the book, and a lot of important plot elements are founded on his characteristics as an old, bearded, Celtic Druid and his particular balance of sagesse and lunacy. A young, black, lucid, intelligent, smooth-faced buddy Merlin simply clashes with essential plot points, and it is unclear how this will affect the original story. So far, it makes little sense. Also, him and Arthur are supposed to have a more complicated relationship. They admire each other, but aren't all "buddy buddy" like it shows in the TV show. They're not peers, or old old college roommates, and its weird to see them portrayed as such in the first episode.
The first episode tries to cover a lot of ground, but I feel like it rushes to establish relationships that took many chapters to develop in the book. I already mentioned the Arther/Merlin relationship is completely off, but the Derfel/Nimue dynamic felt extremely rushed and flimsy. Again, their relationship is integral to the story, and I feel like it would have been worth building up Nimue's Druidic ambitions and how that affects Derfel over the course of several episodes, rather than within the first 2 minutes of meeting her. Similarly, the TV show tries to establish Derfel's complex history into a shortened sequence that can't have lasted more than 4 minutes cumulative. And what's up with that terrible wig!
I appreciated the attempt to explain Arthur's presence in Gaul by depicting events not covered in the books. But similar to the Nimue and Derfel arcs in the first episode, this did end up feeling rushed and implausible. E.g. As he's being escorted out of Cair Cadern, he happens to be right next to the War Room where he pulls in his Buddy Owain (they are rivals in the book, not friends) and conveniently shows us the map and recites the main players in the upcoming struggles. The guards just kind of let it happen. How serendipitous!
It is possible that future episodes will improve on pacing, but the character changes are concerning. It feels like the richness of Bernard Cornwell's characters are being sacrificed on the altar of marketing startegy. Hopefully it gets better. Hopefully I'm wrong.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve
I went into this without looking at any reviews. In the LOTR "purist" circles, I saw a lot of foregone conclusion, and I expected the reviews to be wonky for a while before it converges to something meaningful.
My expectations were also quite low, given how Amazon massacred my boy, The Wheel of Time. Finally, the last bit of critique-profile context I'll give you before I jump into my review is that I hate high-octane, all-action, CGI, madness (looking at you Marvel), and shows that moralize in a heavy-handed way (new GoT, this is your shout out).
This new LOTR is none of that, so far. If you read reviews that say it is, they are incorrect. It is not.
The costumes, environments, cinematography are all breathtaking. A couple cringy CGI moments (elf running up a sword ehhh, didnt like it. But legolas did worse in Jackson movies so I'll let it slide), but it is light compared to shows like GoT, Disney's Star Wars, Marvel, anything on Netflix, etc. One thing I really appreciated was the use of real locations and sets, the Harfoot village reveal scene was great from this standpoint.
Wide sweeping shots are gorgeous and really help establish the world in an expansive physical space. The editing which interweaves the map with landscape shots is fantastic for orienting the viewer and giving a sense of how big the world is and where different groups fit in.
The acting is great. To me, Tolkein's elves are sober, regal, and restrained in tone. This is how they come across on screen and it rings true for me. Some may interpret this as "stiff acting" but, uh, okay, they are wrong. They're literally being their characters, lol, its called acting.
The Harfoot actors are perfect. Nuff said.
The first two episodes are establishing the players, the places, the politics...and it does so at just the right pace, in my opinion. Every scene is so visually, sonically, and narratively rich that there's plenty to soak up in every minute of the show. It isnt nonstop action...thank god...but it is nonstop stimulation. Let them world-build! We dont need cgi magic and explosions every 5 minutes like a damn spiderman movie.
Subtlety is an art, and I think the showrunners have given me reason to trust that they understand this. Is the dialogue always super sharp? No. But its not ridiculous. Its not CW YA MTV coming-of-age teen wolf high school.
Alright. Im gonna stop now, my burrito is done. I thought i was going to hate this show, and I did not. I thought it would be full of moralizing, comment-on-modern-society, break-the-fourth-wall nonsense. I dont trust show-makers these days to exhibit real craftsmanship. But you know what, I like this show so far. I hope it maintains this standard of quality all the way through.