The Spill Movie Community
If it's crap ... We'll tell you
Follow Spill!
Latest Activity
Ha-Ra posted a status
Music
The Walking Dead: Season One Review
This show; for years we’ve been waiting for a television show about zombies. It seemed logical, you could have a rotating cast, the zombie effects didn’t have to be good to be frightening, and if you avoided abandoned cities, it would be cheap to make.
Well, despite critics saying for years that the zombie-subgenre was running out of momentum, this is a fad that refuses to die. With Max Brooks’ book World War Z paving the way for zombie stories to be considered literature, more people started to glance their eyes towards a little independent comic book called; The Walking Dead.
In all honesty, The Walking Dead was just good, not great until the series started to focus on a prison, then it became one of the best books on the stands. But I’ve already written my thoughts on the comic in past reviews, so please check those out.
All of a sudden, the book was being hailed as one of the greatest horror books of all time, and one of the greatest zombie stories ever. So it just made sense to make a show about it.
Enter the TV show. After being rejected from HBO, the series was picked up by AMC, which released other mature hits, like Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
Still, this show was a bit of a risk for the station, because no one had ever made a successful zombie series before, (and to fans of Dead Set, I’m not counting mini-series.) So the first season only got six episodes. That’s okay though, the first story arc only had six issues. It shouldn’t be too hard to adapt.
However, the graphics were disappointing. From the computer generated cars, to the computer generated blood, it was a bit disconcerting, but just a bit.
I wasn’t crazy about the acting either. I don’t think any of the actors are bad, but ever since reality TV, actors seem to be afraid to emote, and every other line is partially whispered. It’s just not my preference, and unfortunately (for me) the series is taking on this quieter acting method.
But my gripes were small; overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend the pilot to any horror fan.
The second episode is where things really started to diverge from the book. New characters were introduced, the zombies became smarter and faster, (did I just see a zombie climb a fence?) and it prolonged Rick’s (the main character’s) inevitable reunion with his family.
Third episode, to me, was a time waster. It is just there to try and slowly develop the new characters in an attempt to make us feel for them. To fans of the book, we know they’re not going to last long. To people just tuning in, they don’t give enough info to make me care about these people. Over all, I felt this episode was a waste of time.
Episode four is where this series started to win me back. Off to retrieve some guns, a small group comes across survivors, and a Mexican standoff ensues. And just when you think the episode is over and they’ll coast through the remaining minutes, a major event happens, which takes out some of the cast. Finally, the zombies are shown as a threat again, and it’s pretty damn entertaining and suspenseful.
Episode five is about the fallout from the attack. The television show diverges heavily from the book at this point, characters that are dead in the book are still alive. Other characters that tag along in the book have set off on their own way. I don’t know what to expect, I don’t know if I’m enjoying it, but damn it, I am intrigued to see where this is going.
Episode six, oh, it went there. Meh. Human’s act crazy, people give up hope, dear god I wish this had been on HBO so that we’d have 13 episodes this season, and we could have seen the snow set it. Also, no conclusion or cliff-hanger on the finale is disappointing. It just expects you’ll tune in next week, except in this case, next week is next October. Jerks.
Overall, it’s a good show, but it can still improve in a lot of areas. The show moves at a very slow pace, it’s so slow that I have trouble convincing my friends who haven’t read the comic series to stick with it.
The character interactions are dumbed down for the television audience. There is an abusive husband, the producers are trying to make a romantic triangle between Rick, his ex-partner Shane, and Rick’s wife, which is doomed to fail. Who ends up with who is not important in this series, and the writers should focus on the survival aspect, and tough decisions that these people need to face.
The show reminds me of AMC’s other hit show, MAD MEN, because that show is beautiful to look at, but it goes at a snails pace, and most the characters are too bland for me to care about. Their situations are also relatively small time compared to the world of Jack Bauer, or LOST, in the fact that nothing really gets resolved, or moves the situation forward. These are survivors who can’t make a big difference in their world, and are scrounging just to get by.
But, if you like Mad Men, and have ever thought ‘I wish someone would make a zombie show similar style to this.’ than The Walking Dead may just be the perfect show for you.
But, in all fairness to The Walking Dead, it is just the first season in what will hopefully turn into an epically ambitious series. I was not initially a fan of the first season of The Shield, because I didn’t understand what they were setting up. Who knows, maybe a certain hillbilly who disappears, will come back to govern some vengeance. Or maybe that story arc will be as convincing as Rick’s chances for surviving this series.
Overall, great production value doesn’t save this slow and short season. But they’re just getting their footing, so I’m giving them a lot of slack, especially because the comics will tell you where this is going, and damn it, I want to see that played out on screen.
I give this first season 6.5 out of 10, since there is a lot they can improve on, and with a year to make new episodes, a fan base to justify a larger budget, and a source material that just gets better as it goes along there is no reason not to improve.
Things to look forward to next season, a simple farmer, a ex-football player, a failed sanctuary (which is one of the comics quickest, but creepiest stops,) and if we have to wait yet another season to see the director of the Shawshank Redemption come to a certain penitentiary, I’m giving up on the show.
Until then, I’m going to keep watching the series, and hope that its pace starts to surpass that of the zombies in it.
Comment
-
Comment by Private Donut on December 7, 2010 at 3:06pm -
Good review. Something to keep in mind with shows on the AMC, especially the Walking Dead, is that it's AMC. Sure, they have a certain amount of leeway here and there, but not as much freedom as HBO and Showtime have. They've made their mark with well thought out shows that take a while to develop, but ultimately have a great pay off at the end (a al Mad Men, which does move excruciatingly slow, but every "oh shit" moment when Don Draper opens his mouth is ultimately a treat).
The thing about the CG and the production, and even the actors, is that AMC was initially very hesitant with the show. When you're not sure how well its going to do and if it has legs you will not dedicate a lot of money to it. The actor list was probably limited and obviously so was the budget. Looking at the success however I won't be too surprised to see more juice out of the show next season.
As for the show itself, I liked it, loved the divergences from the book as well at most parts, some were less emotional than what happened in the book, but then again, its a whole different medium. A comic book tells a complex story in a matter of 10 minutes per issue, depending on how fast you read, while a TV show has to keep your attention for a minimum of 22 minutes, and want you to tune in after commercials, depending on the channel. I think they've had some great writing here to make every moment feel less tacked on, but rather well thought out with a few exceptions.
My favorite part so far was when the guy (keep forgetting his name) was trying to shoot his wife and he couldn't do it. For me that was something that we don't often see in a story about Zombies, or at least not as well done. It brings a human, realistic element to this survival and proves that Walking Dead is not in it for the cheap scares, for the quick adrenaline rush bailout. They're on to something greater here, something that packs and emotional punch and I hope AMC and Darabont will see this through to its very end.
© 2013 Created by The Spill Crew.
You need to be a member of The Spill Movie Community to add comments!
Join The Spill Movie Community