Let's just get this out of the way: TV adaptations of beloved movie/anime/video game franchises often SUCK, and our expectations have been lowered so far that they're buried next to dinosaur dirt. Consequently, surpassing that bar is not a very tall order.
That said, Fallout (2024) is a breath of fresh air in the endless hell of streaming adaptations we're forced to endure year-after-year.
By far the greatest praise of this show is that it nails the TONE. The Fallout franchise is such a specific blend of Pax Americana, retro-futurism and post-apocalyptic dark comedy that this series seemed doomed to fail, as no one but Bethesda has been able to replicate that tone in such a specific way. Like many others, I believed this would just be another half-assed cash grab preying on the nostalgia of middle-aged gamers.
However, I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself eagerly jumping to the next episode! The tone is absolutely PERFECT. Although the "Mad Max-esque" future is grim and downright horrifying at times, its subtle blend with comedy and humanity is 100% spot-on.
Somehow (surely by black magic or otherworldly incantations) the show isn't a total mess! Heck, it's even downright enjoyable at times! The characters are properly developed and experience real narrative arcs throughout the season. Motivations make sense and there are real stakes for our (anti?)heroes. The sets and costumes are high quality, genuinely lived-in and believable. There is actual visual style and thought behind the cinematography. Clearly the creators held the games in high regard, and fans will certainly smile along seeing this homage play out on the screen.
Though there is much praise, it still manages to fall into some of the familiar trappings of generic streaming tripe (hence the 8/10). Some characters and motivations inevitably fall flat. While gore seems to unabashedly flourish in this post-apocalyptic hellscape, the ever looming prudish censorship of the FCC makes this story a largely loveless one. Chemistry between main characters is always played for laughs, with no intent to establish any kind of serious connection between our protagonists.
There is also what I considered to be some "filler episodes." While this ties in nicely to Fallout's theme of constantly getting distracted/sidetracked by random nonsense, the joke does wear a little thin when we only have 8 episodes to explore this specific story. If instead they would've spent this time further fleshing out the characters, I believe the narrative payoffs would have been much more significant.
All-in-all it was a very enjoyable evening spent watching this show (praise Amazon for releasing it all at once!). Fans of the game will surely find themselves engaged and get a few laughs. Even the uninitiated will likely bond with the main characters over their struggles and triumphs in this nightmarish vision of a post-nuclear American wasteland.
IMO worth watching at least the first episode or two for anyone curious; if you find yourself chuckling along with the dark humor - you may want to give the Fallout series a chance!
That said, Fallout (2024) is a breath of fresh air in the endless hell of streaming adaptations we're forced to endure year-after-year.
By far the greatest praise of this show is that it nails the TONE. The Fallout franchise is such a specific blend of Pax Americana, retro-futurism and post-apocalyptic dark comedy that this series seemed doomed to fail, as no one but Bethesda has been able to replicate that tone in such a specific way. Like many others, I believed this would just be another half-assed cash grab preying on the nostalgia of middle-aged gamers.
However, I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself eagerly jumping to the next episode! The tone is absolutely PERFECT. Although the "Mad Max-esque" future is grim and downright horrifying at times, its subtle blend with comedy and humanity is 100% spot-on.
Somehow (surely by black magic or otherworldly incantations) the show isn't a total mess! Heck, it's even downright enjoyable at times! The characters are properly developed and experience real narrative arcs throughout the season. Motivations make sense and there are real stakes for our (anti?)heroes. The sets and costumes are high quality, genuinely lived-in and believable. There is actual visual style and thought behind the cinematography. Clearly the creators held the games in high regard, and fans will certainly smile along seeing this homage play out on the screen.
Though there is much praise, it still manages to fall into some of the familiar trappings of generic streaming tripe (hence the 8/10). Some characters and motivations inevitably fall flat. While gore seems to unabashedly flourish in this post-apocalyptic hellscape, the ever looming prudish censorship of the FCC makes this story a largely loveless one. Chemistry between main characters is always played for laughs, with no intent to establish any kind of serious connection between our protagonists.
There is also what I considered to be some "filler episodes." While this ties in nicely to Fallout's theme of constantly getting distracted/sidetracked by random nonsense, the joke does wear a little thin when we only have 8 episodes to explore this specific story. If instead they would've spent this time further fleshing out the characters, I believe the narrative payoffs would have been much more significant.
All-in-all it was a very enjoyable evening spent watching this show (praise Amazon for releasing it all at once!). Fans of the game will surely find themselves engaged and get a few laughs. Even the uninitiated will likely bond with the main characters over their struggles and triumphs in this nightmarish vision of a post-nuclear American wasteland.
IMO worth watching at least the first episode or two for anyone curious; if you find yourself chuckling along with the dark humor - you may want to give the Fallout series a chance!