I was skeptical right from the start, wondering how they'd pull off making series off 80+ novels, with complex details and graphics, and hundreds of characters and locations worldwide, but I thought maybe because it's Netflix production it might work, and the director seemed too confident, assuring that he and the lead actor Ahmed Amin are avid readers of the novels and friends of the late author, and that the novels were in good hands, too confident in fact that he went as far as giving people a list of "recommendations" on how to watch the series the night before it was aired, encouraging people to focus on its details; however, the series came out nothing like the books, and I feel that the director exploited the name of both the saga and the author for personal propaganda.. It is just so bad! Excellent plots have been reduced to silly and childish fairy tales, like two heartbroken mummies that caused some epidemic of which the only cure is a rare flower in a cave guarded by a nursing gorilla!!
Important characters have been ommited or badly distorted, like the silly egyptologist with the rattle or Lucifer the main antagonist. Even the main characters are portrayed nothing like the books. Ahmed Amin who claimed to have studied the character of the main protagonist "Dr. Refaat Ismail" so well managed to portray him as dim witted, dull, depressing, and downright boring, lacking his witty sharp sense of humor that would make you laugh out loud even amidst the most intense situations. "Maggie", who the series makers ignored the fact that she's described in the books as an angelic blonde physicist, was portrayed as clingy physician redhead with a weird accent and a broken arabic dialogue, insisting to follow Refaat everywhere when she didn't have much role in the books, so the two of them together ended up looking like some comic book hero and heroin braving dangers together! That and the unnecessarily increased focus on the love triangle between him, her and Howaida, which is not of much concern in the books, as if viewers are too petty they need to see this action/love screen mix.
Ignoring the messed up storyline, the various plot holes, and the characters' manipulation, the acting is very bland and most characters are very flat, and most of them only said two lines or so.. The dialogue is slow and boring, and the different languages and accents in the arabic version is annoying. There is zero suspense, I felt downright bored from episode one. The character's reactions are mostly cold, like in that scene where Howaida sees Najat being slammed into a wall by a supernatural power in the myth of the naiad, and her reaction was just raising her hands to her face and "waking" her up, while Reda calmly overlooked! Maybe the best acting was Raeefa, and the child who played Taha is sweet. The child actor who played Shiraz is super annoying, I hated seeing her on screen.. Her acting gives no vibe of fear or suspense or even innocence.. The costumes are so so, some of them being very basic, like the Touareg tribe who are wearing the same clothes they use for any bedouin in the desert in any movie, not their famous blue garb and face covering. The special effects and graphics are mediocre and silly, basically halloween costumes, and who the hell carries a skeleton as a whole?!
I liked the cinematography, and some frames were great, and the set design/decor is beautiful. The music is nice too even though it sounds familiar. If I was to ignore the deformed storyline I would rate this as a 6 at best, but since I normally focus on the story when watching movies/series, and because I felt cheated that after more than a year of promises of the generation's favorite saga coming to life it ended up being like this, I rate it a 3. Shame! because this had the potential of being a REAL huge success.
Edit: After watching this "attempt" at egyptian horror/thrillers, the only outcome I hope for is the book series getting translated to English, maybe then a hollywood director or producer would realize how great it is and decide to make it with a proper budget, actors and graphics.. Only then we will see something exceptional.
Ignoring the messed up storyline, the various plot holes, and the characters' manipulation, the acting is very bland and most characters are very flat, and most of them only said two lines or so.. The dialogue is slow and boring, and the different languages and accents in the arabic version is annoying. There is zero suspense, I felt downright bored from episode one. The character's reactions are mostly cold, like in that scene where Howaida sees Najat being slammed into a wall by a supernatural power in the myth of the naiad, and her reaction was just raising her hands to her face and "waking" her up, while Reda calmly overlooked! Maybe the best acting was Raeefa, and the child who played Taha is sweet. The child actor who played Shiraz is super annoying, I hated seeing her on screen.. Her acting gives no vibe of fear or suspense or even innocence.. The costumes are so so, some of them being very basic, like the Touareg tribe who are wearing the same clothes they use for any bedouin in the desert in any movie, not their famous blue garb and face covering. The special effects and graphics are mediocre and silly, basically halloween costumes, and who the hell carries a skeleton as a whole?!
I liked the cinematography, and some frames were great, and the set design/decor is beautiful. The music is nice too even though it sounds familiar. If I was to ignore the deformed storyline I would rate this as a 6 at best, but since I normally focus on the story when watching movies/series, and because I felt cheated that after more than a year of promises of the generation's favorite saga coming to life it ended up being like this, I rate it a 3. Shame! because this had the potential of being a REAL huge success.
Edit: After watching this "attempt" at egyptian horror/thrillers, the only outcome I hope for is the book series getting translated to English, maybe then a hollywood director or producer would realize how great it is and decide to make it with a proper budget, actors and graphics.. Only then we will see something exceptional.