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RATE THIS SERIES
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Twilight has left us with a lot of disappointment. Vampires and Werevolves has been reduced to whiny brats who cares only about bland romances, moved by hormones. A far cry from what was Bram Stoker's concept and other movies like Nosferatu, Dracula(1931) and Bram Stoker's Dracula. I mean, the character has been played by legends like Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi and Gary Oldman. It's one of the best fictional characters in literary and cinematic history. Fortunately we moved on from the Twilight Saga and its disappointing ending. Fortunately some people decided to portray vampires for what they really are: blood lusted animals who don't care about the mankind. With a twist.
PLOT
"A vampire hunter fights to save a besieged city from an army of otherworldly creatures controlled by Dracula" or "Vampires have never been this cool".
SCRIPT
This isn't just about vampire's bloodlust. Every character is amazingly defined by a purpose, a core tenet and a quirk. There aren't villains or heroes here, there're people who has experienced death and death itself. The whole world of this show is built around th existence of supernatural things but everything is approached with a scientific mindset. Not the emotions. The feelings are potrayed as pure as they can be. Feelings which manifests in sex, rough or sweet, and subtle hints. A lot of concepts are subtly introduced and touched with an elegance which is rare. Like the social commentary. Even though the characters are great, the second series of the season present a weak season which makes sense in the last one, because is used to expand the universe and set up the marvellous ending of the show. I liked a lot the dialogues which are enriched with wits and depth. This show humanize vampires and monsters of all kind, to the point of humanizing death itself.
Script: 9/10
ACTING
It's pitch perfect. Not only in terms of voice and tone but also for the accent, which fits the Romanian setting and the period. Richard Armitage and Graham McTavish emerge as the best performers of the bunch, creating two characters who are intriguing and charismatic. The other players do a good job as well and I think that Theo James has done a really good job with Hector. Overall is pretty satisfaying and all the people involved seem to care about the show.
Acting: 8/10
PHOTOGRAPHY
Well, this is unexpected. A lot of pictures have incredible scenery and the colours are used marvellously. Every character and every party has different colours, which are linked to their behaviour and desires. Dracula is the character who's involved in almost all the best looking scenes, which help make him look like cool, fascinating, dreadful and powerful. There're scene where there's a chromatic cornucopia, a sight's delight.
Photography: 8/10
EDITING
The action scene are the best thing about that. They're edited in a dynamich and engaging way, by using a moving camera and a slight use of slow motion. You can feel everything, every bruise, every punch and thrust of the sword. Some shots are edited in a really cool way, to make things appear bigger and more menacing or just wonderful.
Editing: 8/10
SPECIAL EFFECTS
The character's design is good and it's made of sharper lines for Vampires, Monsters and Men and softer for Women. Dracula has the best design ever and there's a lot of variety for the Creatures of the Night. Magic is represented in an efficient and clear cut way, which makes it "believable". The animation is the principal strength of this series and you'll know it after the first episode, where the animators wanted to show all their skills. Cgi is used sometimes but it doesn't lower the series quality, even though is a bit mediocre sometimes.
Special Effects: 8/10
SOUNDTRACK
It's ok. Sometimes it infuses the series with a lot of adrenaline but most of the time is just average. The problem is that there's only Dracula's theme which is memorable, the rest is pretty stale and forgettable. It's a let down, considering the fact that it could've experimented a lot with Romanian music and Medieval tones but they wanted something cool which stands in your mind for a short time.
Soundtrack: 6/10
COSTUMES
The costumes are amazing and fits the time period. I love the Vampire's suits because each of them is unique in itself and express a different type of behaviour and origin. Trevor Balmont clothes are good but they reminded me of Game of Thrones and I didn't find them remarkable. I liked the contrast between the Forgemasters clothes, because the colours underlined a different, opposed type of intelligence which clash on the screen.
Costumes: 7/10
CONCLUSION
Script: 9/10
Acting: 8/10
Photography: 8/10
Editing: 8/10
Special Effects: 8/10
Soundtrack: 6/10
Costumes: 7/10
AVERAGE: 7,71
It's a beautiful series, which has a great design, wonderful visuals and a compelling script. You'll love it if you're a fan of the game and you could appreciate it if you're someone who's curious about the show. During the second season you'll be bored a little but the third one will reward your trust in the series. I think that this is the best adaptation of Vampires and legendary creatures and, maybe, the best series about a videogame.
RATE THIS REVIEW
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Director: Sam Deats, Adam Deats
Screenplay: Warren Ellis
Cast: Richard Armitage, James Callis, Graham McTavish, Alejandra Reynoso, Tony Amendola, Matt Frewer, Emily Swallow, Theo James, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, Jaime Murray, Peter Stormare, Jessica Brown Findlay, Yasmine Al Massri, Ivana Miličević, Bill Nighy, Navid Negahban, Jason Isaacs, Toru Uchikado, Rila Fukushima, Barbara Steele, Lance Reddick
Soundtrack: Trevor Morris
Running Time: 25 minutes
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