the umbrella academy season 1 review
well okay so, listen, i like gerard way but i'm not like, that big a fan that i read the comics (although i had a friend who did) but anyway i had no intention of watching this until i had nothing else to do (lockdown, you know how it is) so like, here is my review.
so the umbrella academy - loosely - is about some miracle babies with superpowers, who reunite after the death of their 'father', and have to stop the impending apocalypse. feature, time travel, superpowers and general fuckery.
for me, this show reminds me a LOT of Legion (from FX), and it turns out that the creator of Umbrella Academy, Steve Blackman, was actually an executive producer and showrunner on Legion, and also hired Jeff Russo for the soundtrack for TUA, who was also the composer for Legion, and Craig Wrobleski with the cinematography.
In a lot of ways, this is sort of like, Legion if it was marketed a little more towards the masses, which is a little more digestable. while it lacks the creativity and innovation of Legion, it has a lot of the same markers, cool use of music, a sort of 'grounded' and realistic approach to superpowers, random dance sequences. you can definitely see the same influences if you've watched both, but I have to admit, i commend this show for actually having a plot and being able to execute it, and having a cohesive one drawn from the source material. also, the women are like, not QUITE as bad as they are in legion.
the general show tho - while not at all like the comics (at least, from what i gather from wiki and other comments)
the general plot of the season is pretty generic though - 7 siblings who reunite at the funeral of their father, try to solve the mystery of his death (but not really) and Number Five who vanished at 13 (?) shows up at the funeral only to tell them that they have only a few days before the apocalypse ends the world as they know it. cue time travelling assassins, and a spectacular family shit show because none of them get along.
in terms of the actual show itself, after finishing it, i must confess, nothing really stood out to me that much, there was nothing that i watched and went, oh yeah i definitely will want to rewatch this again, or that was a really cool sequence that i'd like to watch again. the show definitely dragged in the middle and held off some reveals i think they could have done a little earlier, and explained certain aspects a little more, since they rely very heavily on flashbacks, but i think really hammering in on those moments would have given way more weight to the characters - especaily in regards to klaus' trip to the vietnam war, five's history with delores, luther's whole moon thing. for example, it was like, we were constnatly being told that allison loves claire, but it takes us until the last episode to even know what she looks like, and the 3 seconds of story were literally not eonugh for us to give a shit at all. for a show which is heavily character based, it ends up neglecting its characters for quite a good amount, instead using them as tools to further the slow and predictable plot. like, why was pogo just doing some slow ass reveal like some msytery murder when none of them were on board? why was that like some unspoken agenda we were supposed to understand? i dont know. i don't understand.
that said, the ending does have more of a reassuring conclusion - in contrast to the comics - and i'm eager to see what exactly they end up doing especially with that huge cliffhanger.
i really enjoyed aidan gallagher as Five, who, most people would agree had the most impressive performance out of the cast, although i think most of the cast did an amazing job with the characters - although I resent that they made ellen page so demure. my personal fave is Justin Min as Ben, super glad to see hes a series regular next season.
i honestly binge watched this knowing that S2 was going to come out at the end of the month, but overall, i have to rate this a 5.5/10. a good waste of time and an entertaining and gripping (At times) show, but ultimately a forgettable experience.
so the umbrella academy - loosely - is about some miracle babies with superpowers, who reunite after the death of their 'father', and have to stop the impending apocalypse. feature, time travel, superpowers and general fuckery.
for me, this show reminds me a LOT of Legion (from FX), and it turns out that the creator of Umbrella Academy, Steve Blackman, was actually an executive producer and showrunner on Legion, and also hired Jeff Russo for the soundtrack for TUA, who was also the composer for Legion, and Craig Wrobleski with the cinematography.
In a lot of ways, this is sort of like, Legion if it was marketed a little more towards the masses, which is a little more digestable. while it lacks the creativity and innovation of Legion, it has a lot of the same markers, cool use of music, a sort of 'grounded' and realistic approach to superpowers, random dance sequences. you can definitely see the same influences if you've watched both, but I have to admit, i commend this show for actually having a plot and being able to execute it, and having a cohesive one drawn from the source material. also, the women are like, not QUITE as bad as they are in legion.
the general show tho - while not at all like the comics (at least, from what i gather from wiki and other comments)
the general plot of the season is pretty generic though - 7 siblings who reunite at the funeral of their father, try to solve the mystery of his death (but not really) and Number Five who vanished at 13 (?) shows up at the funeral only to tell them that they have only a few days before the apocalypse ends the world as they know it. cue time travelling assassins, and a spectacular family shit show because none of them get along.
in terms of the actual show itself, after finishing it, i must confess, nothing really stood out to me that much, there was nothing that i watched and went, oh yeah i definitely will want to rewatch this again, or that was a really cool sequence that i'd like to watch again. the show definitely dragged in the middle and held off some reveals i think they could have done a little earlier, and explained certain aspects a little more, since they rely very heavily on flashbacks, but i think really hammering in on those moments would have given way more weight to the characters - especaily in regards to klaus' trip to the vietnam war, five's history with delores, luther's whole moon thing. for example, it was like, we were constnatly being told that allison loves claire, but it takes us until the last episode to even know what she looks like, and the 3 seconds of story were literally not eonugh for us to give a shit at all. for a show which is heavily character based, it ends up neglecting its characters for quite a good amount, instead using them as tools to further the slow and predictable plot. like, why was pogo just doing some slow ass reveal like some msytery murder when none of them were on board? why was that like some unspoken agenda we were supposed to understand? i dont know. i don't understand.
that said, the ending does have more of a reassuring conclusion - in contrast to the comics - and i'm eager to see what exactly they end up doing especially with that huge cliffhanger.
i really enjoyed aidan gallagher as Five, who, most people would agree had the most impressive performance out of the cast, although i think most of the cast did an amazing job with the characters - although I resent that they made ellen page so demure. my personal fave is Justin Min as Ben, super glad to see hes a series regular next season.
i honestly binge watched this knowing that S2 was going to come out at the end of the month, but overall, i have to rate this a 5.5/10. a good waste of time and an entertaining and gripping (At times) show, but ultimately a forgettable experience.
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