5 months ago
I just got done watching the eight episodes of season one of the Fallout series on Amazon. This is based on the games but the story and most characters are original.
Overall it wasn't bad. Yes it has gory moments and yes some of the dialogue gets really ***** ual. But it does successfully capture the tone of the games. It is pretty dark and has grim survival drama aspects but the weird sort of humorous undertone from the games survives here.
Most of the acting is good. Ella Purnell handles the lead part well (and is not even close to a girl boss or Mary Sue). Aaron Moten also does a good turn as a recruit of the Brotherhood of Steel (a Fallout game faction). And stealing his scenes is Walton Goggins as an immortal mutant bounty hunter (another game element translated pretty well).
As to the woke question the answer is no. It is not woke. It also avoids the curse of presentism that kills so many shows and movies nowadays. It also is not perfect. The pacing is inconsistent with the opening episode feeling like a Guy Ritchie film and some later episodes move slower than necessary, with more flashbacks to before the war than to me were needed.
One other thing I should note - I think a major reason this adaptation works is that it concentrates on getting the look, tone and feel of the setting and its background elements right. Then it tells an original story with original characters in that setting and obeying all the rules of that setting. This inherently gives writers a lot more room to operate in while not breaking lore compatibility. This is also why (bit of a sidetrack) Halo is such a bad adaptation - they used characters from the games (like Master Chief) and got them completely wrong in addition to not accurately capturing the feel and look of the game setting.
All in all it is a positive sign that maybe, just maybe, we are starting to get decently written and performed entertainment again.
Overall it wasn't bad. Yes it has gory moments and yes some of the dialogue gets really ***** ual. But it does successfully capture the tone of the games. It is pretty dark and has grim survival drama aspects but the weird sort of humorous undertone from the games survives here.
Most of the acting is good. Ella Purnell handles the lead part well (and is not even close to a girl boss or Mary Sue). Aaron Moten also does a good turn as a recruit of the Brotherhood of Steel (a Fallout game faction). And stealing his scenes is Walton Goggins as an immortal mutant bounty hunter (another game element translated pretty well).
As to the woke question the answer is no. It is not woke. It also avoids the curse of presentism that kills so many shows and movies nowadays. It also is not perfect. The pacing is inconsistent with the opening episode feeling like a Guy Ritchie film and some later episodes move slower than necessary, with more flashbacks to before the war than to me were needed.
One other thing I should note - I think a major reason this adaptation works is that it concentrates on getting the look, tone and feel of the setting and its background elements right. Then it tells an original story with original characters in that setting and obeying all the rules of that setting. This inherently gives writers a lot more room to operate in while not breaking lore compatibility. This is also why (bit of a sidetrack) Halo is such a bad adaptation - they used characters from the games (like Master Chief) and got them completely wrong in addition to not accurately capturing the feel and look of the game setting.
All in all it is a positive sign that maybe, just maybe, we are starting to get decently written and performed entertainment again.
What is interesting is that not only will Fallout Season One wind up Amazon's most watched video series ever (currently that is Reacher but Fallout when all the numbers are in looks good to hit or pass) Nielsen shows it as a monster hit also.
And in a first for one of the adaptations of a video game (and remember Fallout is an old warhorse) sales and plays (Steam measured) of the Fallout games spiked big time immediately after the series released and going forward.
And in a first for one of the adaptations of a video game (and remember Fallout is an old warhorse) sales and plays (Steam measured) of the Fallout games spiked big time immediately after the series released and going forward.
5 months ago
In response Joelist to his Publication
