I'm writing this in response to all the vitriolic posts I've seen about this show. I don't understand where it's all coming from. Will it ever win an Emmy? Probably not.. Is it cheesy? Yup. Does it look like a B movie? Sure but a REALLY good one.
Look, I'm no expert but from what I could see, the biggest problem I see isn't really a problem. They seem to have foregone the whole adding film grain digitally for effect (kudos, BTW - I'm quite sick of it) and just given us an incredibly clear HD picture that unfortunately exaggerates what is often referred to as "The Soap Opera Effect". On top of that, everything seems to crisp, too clear, too..perfect. People think it looks cheap because it APPEARS cheap compared to all artsy futzing around most people do with the picture nowadays to AVOID that. But it's all perception, an illusion based on our inability to recognize a realistic, clear image as anything but REAL and once it becomes real, it feels weird to look at. Like someone filming a live stage production with a high end recorder. Our brains expect the film grain and the weird lighting effects because it's what we're used to. Don't believe me? Try adding noise to an image and tell me that it doesn't "appear" sharper. I use it every day and people without fail are shocked at how much "sharper" the images are to them now (needless to say, I don't explain why - it's just too confusing).
As for the acting, fight choreography and such, I've seen worse. MUCH worse from shows that made it 3, 4 even 5 seasons and have fans out there to this day (I'm looking at you Z Nation). The lead actor Jessica Green does a decent job of making her character as believable as she can. Jake Stromoen (from the recent series Extinct which was fairly good and the movie series Mythica made by the same company which makes this series) is solid as usual. The fight choreography is nothing to write home about but once again, I've see far worse. It looks fairly realistic as long as you can pretend people can really do that and aren't staring too hard, which actually applies to most fight scenes anyway, now that I think about it.
One knock I have to give is for the makeup. Following in the footsteps of the Mythica movies, they seem to want to add dirt smudges around the hairline or forehead and usually one cheek. This then randomly moves around or just disappears for no good reason. I know they are trying to make them look less perfect but it just ends up looking contrived and obvious. Either leave it off or do it right. We're already suspending belief here, so why not that as well? I mean, how many movies and shows have we all watched and thought to ourselves "Where did she get that eyeliner and lipstick and exactly how did she get her eyebrows so perfect using what would pass for mirrors and tweezers. More importantly, when did she find the time for all that AND washing THEN drying her hair?" (having long hair, I know what a pain it is so I notice these things. Stop judging me.) So if you're just going to play with the face smudges while trying to keep everyone pretty, just drop it. If we can accept the fact that they've washed their hair (or even bathed), I think we can deal with them wiping their faces. You're not helping. Seriously.
For what it's worth, cut them some slack. It's not supposed to be perfect, just entertaining and so far, as with the Mythica series, it works for me.
Given the reviews so far, I won't hold my breath for another season but then again other shows have had the same thing happen and they're still on the air (I'm looking at you again, Z Nation) so who knows?
I would probably rate this as 7 stars. I'm giving it 10 because of all the haters.
Look, I'm no expert but from what I could see, the biggest problem I see isn't really a problem. They seem to have foregone the whole adding film grain digitally for effect (kudos, BTW - I'm quite sick of it) and just given us an incredibly clear HD picture that unfortunately exaggerates what is often referred to as "The Soap Opera Effect". On top of that, everything seems to crisp, too clear, too..perfect. People think it looks cheap because it APPEARS cheap compared to all artsy futzing around most people do with the picture nowadays to AVOID that. But it's all perception, an illusion based on our inability to recognize a realistic, clear image as anything but REAL and once it becomes real, it feels weird to look at. Like someone filming a live stage production with a high end recorder. Our brains expect the film grain and the weird lighting effects because it's what we're used to. Don't believe me? Try adding noise to an image and tell me that it doesn't "appear" sharper. I use it every day and people without fail are shocked at how much "sharper" the images are to them now (needless to say, I don't explain why - it's just too confusing).
As for the acting, fight choreography and such, I've seen worse. MUCH worse from shows that made it 3, 4 even 5 seasons and have fans out there to this day (I'm looking at you Z Nation). The lead actor Jessica Green does a decent job of making her character as believable as she can. Jake Stromoen (from the recent series Extinct which was fairly good and the movie series Mythica made by the same company which makes this series) is solid as usual. The fight choreography is nothing to write home about but once again, I've see far worse. It looks fairly realistic as long as you can pretend people can really do that and aren't staring too hard, which actually applies to most fight scenes anyway, now that I think about it.
One knock I have to give is for the makeup. Following in the footsteps of the Mythica movies, they seem to want to add dirt smudges around the hairline or forehead and usually one cheek. This then randomly moves around or just disappears for no good reason. I know they are trying to make them look less perfect but it just ends up looking contrived and obvious. Either leave it off or do it right. We're already suspending belief here, so why not that as well? I mean, how many movies and shows have we all watched and thought to ourselves "Where did she get that eyeliner and lipstick and exactly how did she get her eyebrows so perfect using what would pass for mirrors and tweezers. More importantly, when did she find the time for all that AND washing THEN drying her hair?" (having long hair, I know what a pain it is so I notice these things. Stop judging me.) So if you're just going to play with the face smudges while trying to keep everyone pretty, just drop it. If we can accept the fact that they've washed their hair (or even bathed), I think we can deal with them wiping their faces. You're not helping. Seriously.
For what it's worth, cut them some slack. It's not supposed to be perfect, just entertaining and so far, as with the Mythica series, it works for me.
Given the reviews so far, I won't hold my breath for another season but then again other shows have had the same thing happen and they're still on the air (I'm looking at you again, Z Nation) so who knows?
I would probably rate this as 7 stars. I'm giving it 10 because of all the haters.