(image copyright MTV)
The series begins by introducing us to Amberle (Poppy Drayton)—an
Elf princess who has slipped past her royal guards in order to participate in
the Gauntlet, a grueling race in which the contestants must run through a
forest blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. The purpose of the
race is to determine who will become the next members of an elite group known
as the Chosen—the first seven to reach the finish line will be able to join. I
don't think it's too much of a spoiler to reveal that the princess completes
the Gauntlet in time and takes her place among the Chosen.
The purpose of the Chosen is to protect a sacred tree known as the
Ellcrys, which, according to legend, is part of a magical barrier that keeps an
army of Demons imprisoned in a place known as the Forbidding. These days,
however, no one believes in magic or Demons, and the position of the Chosen,
while highly prestigious, is largely ceremonial.
Soon, we also meet the Half-Elf Wil (Austin Butler), who yearns
to become a healer, and who comes into possession of three Elfstones upon the
death of his mother. We see him set on horseback to journey to a bigger village
where he can better learn the healing arts. We also learn that our story takes
place in the Four Lands—apparently, our own Earth centuries after our present civilization
has crumbled, leaving hulking ruins of our once great cities.
As Wil sets out, Amberle begins having troubling visions that
are sent to her by the Ellcrys, and she flees her home, fearing what she has
seen herself do in her visions. On the road, both Wil and Amberle in succession
run afoul of Eretria (Ivana Baquero)—a Human Rover who tries with varying
degrees of success to rob them. And as Wil and Amberle struggle on the road,
the leaves of the Ellcrys begin to fall—releasing one by one the Demons that
everyone believed to be apocryphal.
Overall, the production design of the series is quite good—the sets
are well rendered, and the landscapes, a mixture of CGI and real locations, are
often impressive. I was particularly struck by a scene of Amberle crossing a
vast field dotted with derelict satellite dishes. The acting is decent—with veteran character actor John
Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings
trilogy) as King Eventine providing extra vigor and spark. I found the basic setup to be intriguing with each
leaf on the sacred tree representing a Demon that could be freed to form an army,
and the combined episode ended on an effective cliffhanger. Some of the dialog,
however, was a little too expository in tone, and sometimes events were a
little too convenient—Wil set out with his new mentor, a druid, to find a book
of magic, and not only do they find it, but the book also tells them what to do
next. The music, costumes, and characters types were all very reminiscent of
the 80s, which I suppose makes sense considering when the book series began,
but I would've liked to see a little bit of an update—at least in the first two
categories. In terms of atmosphere, something about The Shannara Chronicles felt just a little bit flat, which I
suppose only serves to point out just how challenging it is to develop a
top-notch fantasy TV series—the pieces all appear to be here, but it's missing
something in spirit. But there is potential here—Wil, Amberle, and Eretria are
destined to be our main characters, and they haven't even begun to cohere yet.
It will be interesting to see how things develop and if MTV can pull off the
teenage Game of Thrones-style hit it
is reportedly trying to create. If I had to give The Shannara Chronicles a grade, I would go with a B-. It's
certainly not terrible, but it's also not spectacular.
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I had this problem myself. I don't know what it was...if it was that little bit of overacting, or if it was because the plot for that first episode felt EXTREMELY slow, but I had to keep myself tuned it. I kept wandering off. I'm going to give it a few more episodes, want to like it desperately, but I wasn't as happy about it as I thought I would be.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you--I really wanted to like it, too. I'm also going to try a few more episodes :)
ReplyDelete