S1 of 'His Dark Materials' is enjoyable viewing. First and foremost, the special effects for this show are incredible. The animals and dæmons look insane, especially by television standards. That is the thing that I love most about this. The cinematography is also top notch.
Cast-wise it's good. It's easy to see that Dafne Keen (Lyra) has serious talent, she is impressive for the majority here - at a few moments her performance isn't perfect, e.g. when finding out something in episode two, but I wouldn't expect her to be, definitely the best actor on display and she'll only improve. You may think I'm forgetting or ignoring James McAvoy (Asriel). Of course he is 'the' star but he hardly features, he's just barely in three episodes. For when we do see him, he is - obviously - terrific.
Away from Keen and McAvoy, you also have Ruth Wilson (Marisa) and Anne-Marie Duff (Ma) involved - I've only recently become aware of those two, from 'Luther' and 'The Salisbury Poisonings' respectively, they are both good here. Elsewhere, James Cosmo (Farder), Lucian Msamati (John) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Lee) are enjoyable in their roles. Helen McCrory (Stelmaria) is in there too, but I didn't notice her until typing this review to be honest.
I did find some of the pacing across the first four episodes rather off, there was a fair amount of times when I felt like it was dragging its heels. Thankfully, the second part of this eight-episode series is much better. The opening theme is superb, also. I look forward to catching season two.
I liked it, just liked it. I don't feel the need to complain about anything but this: i wish this was a slow paced story, they literally crammed 3 seasons in 8 episodes. In my dream world i would have loved this story if it was divided as following:
Season 1 - until Lyra finds out who her mother is
Season 2 - Ioren named king of bears
Season 3 - Lyra travels to another world.
It's good! It does what I really liked about Denis Villenueve's Dune, in which it feels like a proper adaptation, where things are changed and adjusted to fit the format in ways that not just make sense, but flow way better rather than just, book-to-screen and don't deviate at all! The audience must know what's going on at all times! Fuck the Golden Compass movie!
I think it needed to find it's footing in the earlier episodes, and the acting wasn't suuuper consistent with my beloved Dafne Keen but the last two episodes she makes up for, I think. Perks of having a strong director!
Ruth Wilson, however, completely stole the show as Mrs. Marisa Coulter. She not only got the look and body language down, but she got the fervent obsession, the ruthless cunning, and the range that all comes with it. She was easily my favorite part about the whole season.
The VFX also was fucking phenomenal, it's so genuinely hard to tell when they swap to real animals and fake ones because of how well animated and designed all of the daemons and bears and just, every animal is. So fucking cool to see!
The story itself, while I do like how it's adapted here, I'm just not too big of a fan of the way that Pullman writes the books in the first place, and that sort of style is very present here. It's still good, don't get me wrong, but Pullman's original story just isn't for me personally. Still, there's a lot of personality in all the characters, all the acting was pretty good for the most part, and it was very thrilling to watch some of these scenes. Bolvangar was very fun to watch with all the practical sets and locations, and Mrs. Coulter's home was a dazzling set piece to have those early dramatic moments in.
Excited to watch the next seasons!
Very enjoyable first season that feels like they adapted the source material well to the medium of television. Some great special effects, costuming and set design from a great Cardiff production company, Bad Wolf. The casting and acting are decent, although the writing in dialogue isn't always lucid, coming across forced. Perhaps that has more to do with Pullman's original contributions though. Lorne Balfe does a great job of scoring this. I'll have that theme song in my head for a while for sure.
This is not a bad story, but it has very little to do with the books. The story in the books is eternal and alive!
This is a marvellous series for those who love fantastic adventures. Spectacular cast. Wonderful performances. Dafne Keen was a revelation in LOGAN and, now, she has matured into a multi-dimensional actor. Ruth Wilson is brilliant, as always. An intriguing premise and storytelling. Convincing special effects. I give this series a 10 (wonderful) out of 10. This has already been renewed and my hope is that they take on the whole series of books. [Fantasy Adventure]
Question: if The Golden Compass was a box office disaster and did not have therefore continuation; What does it mean to make a whole series of the novel on which it was based? Does it contribute something new to nonsense size? At the moment I will give it a chance although it does not look good after seeing the first chapter.
Shout by Dann MichalskiBlockedParent2022-02-01T17:00:29Z
Philip Pullman’s epic fantasy saga is brought to life in the HBO series His Dark Materials. Season 1 follows an intrepid young girl named Lyra who goes in search of her best friend Roger when he’s kidnapped by a mysterious group, and then attempts to help her uncle after learning that he’s been imprisonment (pretty much Book 1 of the novels). The cast is fairly solid, though the performances are rather middling. And the writing is uneven, particularly in the latter episodes that start working in the transition to Book 2. Still, the CGI and special effects are especially well-done, and the action scenes are exciting. Also, the score does an impressive job at enhancing the tone of the material; giving it an epic, otherworldly feel. Yet while Season 1 of His Dark Materials show some promise, it’s also inconsistent and seems to be focused more on serving the source material than adapting it for the television medium.