So I finally gave in and watched the show that everyone is going mental over. The last time I submitted to such a hype was for the Wire, so maybe hype isn't always a bad thing.
However, overall, I was quite disappointed with the 1st episode. I was expecting some sort of new twist on the heavily recycled zombie genre but there isn't much here that deviates from the conventions. Guy wakes up and the world is in ruins, meets other survivors who are skeptical at first and then after sharing stories and hope for their respective families become buddies then guy sets off to look for his family. The spark of the show lies in the format: because it is an AMC TV Drama, the director can take the time to build relationships and scenes. So instead of the Guy being confronted with hordes of zombies instantly as in most zombie movies, we get a gradual build up and thus witness the main character killing reluctantly and apologetically to blowing heads off with nonchalance. Also, more time to spare means the director can fill the hour with long, expensive reveal shots which become very tedious after the 4th or 5th time.
The Walking dead is a drama in the strictest sense: there are no wildcard characters who run around massacring zombies with a novelty weapon or zombies in funny costumes. So this is where the show tries to find its originality, by being completely humourless and so what you get is something that is reaching for the stark, realist, depravity of The Road but stuck in the colourful, usually spectacular world of the zombie movie and so all your expectations are let down.
I do think the show has potential, I hope there is more to the shallow characters and most of all I hope this isn't a really long, censored version of the road. Also, I've always thought it dumb to judge a show on its first episode, so onto episode 2!
Also, on a completely unrelated note: the library smells really bad today.
No comments:
Post a Comment