The "wheel of time" begins chaotically. But it's still worth watching

The first three episodes of The Wheel of Time aired on Amazon Prime on November 19. The project is based on the famous series of novels by Robert Jordan, recognized as fantasy classics. The author himself wrote 11 parts, and after his death, Brandon Sanderson finalized three more volumes based on drafts of Jordan.

Amazon invested in film adaptation big budget: each batch was worth‘Wheel of Time’ Grinds Things Like ’Plot’ and ‘Character’ to a Screeching Halt / Rolling Stone about 10 million dollars. And it looks like the platform was confident in the success of the project: The Wheel of Time was extended‘Wheel of Time’ Renewed for Season 2 at Amazon as Season 1 Wraps Production / Variety for the second season long before the release of the first.

However, after the premiere, many Western critics scoldedThe Wheel of Time: Season 1 / Rotten Tomatoes TV series. Partly true: the plot seems too messy, and the visuals leave much to be desired.

But already from the three episodes that were released, we can say that further the project becomes much more interesting.

The show starts off too quickly, but then levels out.

In the distant past, a man nicknamed Dragon, brought chaos and destruction to the world. Since then, the women's order "Aes Sedai" has been waiting for his reincarnation. According to legend, the new Dragon will save humanity from evil. The representative of the Moiraine Order Damodred (Rosamund Pike) arrives in the quiet region of Mesopotamia, because there are four young people (three young men and a girl), each of whom can be chosen. At the same time, the settlement is attacked by the trollocs monsters - the henchmen of the sinister Dark One. To save the inhabitants and at the same time to figure out the Reborn Dragon, Moiraine takes the teenagers and sets off on a journey with them.

Robert Jordan originally envisioned his books as a massive, multivolume saga. Moreover, he even knew in advance how the last part would end (it's a pity that he didn't have time to write the ending himself). It is precisely because of this globality that the first novel, The Eye of the World, can in part be considered an exposition to the future development of history. The author took his time, gradually acquainting readers with all the characters and their universe.

Creators film adaptations they did exactly the opposite. In the first five chapters of the book, almost nothing happens: the characters simply communicate with each other and solve everyday problems. In the series, by the 20th minute, the plot goes into complex love and family vicissitudes, and on the 30th the action begins. It seems that the authors are too afraid that the viewer will get bored.

Therefore, every short dramatic scene is immediately replaced by something cheerful - from the introduction about a certain the mad man hunted by the Aes Sedai before the young Egwene (Madeleine Madden).

Perhaps it really adds dynamics. But this approach looks odd at first. It seems that the young heroes have lived their whole lives in peace and quiet. However, at the first call, they immediately jump on their horses and set off towards adventure. It looks like the embodiment of the No Time to Explain meme.

One can argue about the need for such an acceleration. Suffice it to recall other adaptations of multivolume fantastic sagas. For example, many scolded the new “Dune”For Denis Villeneuve making almost the entire film as an introduction to future events. But on the other hand, if you recall the adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, you don't even want to imagine that hobbits could get to Rivendell 30 minutes after the start of the picture, and nothing about their native Shire told.

Due to the fast pace, dialogues suffer in part. Heroes often speak completely unnaturally, simply telling each other (and in fact the viewer) the necessary information. It is, of course, more lively than in "Argument", Which has long been the reason for numerous jokesANOIR / TikTok, but still it is difficult to believe in the reality of such conversations.

However, most of these problems remain in the first episode. Already from the second episode, "The Wheel of Time" turns into a leisurely sequential story. Heroes move from one location to another, meet friends and enemies, find themselves in various difficult situations in which everyone can show their character and discover unusual abilities.

One can only hope that further the action will not return to its original chaos and the authors will gradually introduce new characters and add storylines.

The plot sounds familiar, but still surprising

Even Robert Jordan himself did not hide the fact that he deliberately turned the "Eye of the World" into a kind of "Lord of the Rings" by Tolkien. There are indeed a lot of analogies: the awakening of a certain Dark One, the journey of a group of "little" people who do not at all look like fighters against evil, and they themselves are not delighted with the mission entrusted to them. There are also references to Frank Herbert's Dune (Aes Sedai is a clear copy of the Bene Gesserit women's order). In a word, the structure of the book is the most typical fantasy. Moreover, for Amazon Prime, the first comparison is ironic: "The Wheel of Time" is often called a platform training before the release of a more ambitious and expensive series "Lord of the Rings».

For the most part, the adaptation of Jordan's books, closely following the plot of the original, retains a classic structure. But at the same time, surprisingly, it does not slide into a set of cliches. The Wheel of Time has several nice features that allow it to hook the viewer.

So, the theme of the "chosen one", as in the original, is presented in an unusual way: the heroes themselves do not know which of them will turn out to be the Reborn Dragon. Of course, this is not a secret for connoisseurs of the original source. But in the film adaptation, the emphasis was slightly shifted: in fact, the main character could rather be called Moiraine. Moreover, she is played by the only popular star in the cast. The rest of the heroes are given approximately the same amount of time.

For fans of the book, the creators also prepared a few surprises. One could have feared that in the modern version the project would become another teenage fantasy like “Shadows and bones». But the tone of the narrative here is even darker than in the book: in the frame they do not skimp on cruelty, the heroes often commit very ambiguous actions.

The main characters were made several years older than in the original (by the way, it's even nice that little-known actors were taken on these roles). Accordingly, their almost childish concerns were replaced by more serious thoughts. This is most noticeable in the line of Perrin (Marcus Rutherford). One of the events makes the fate of this hero more tragic.

But it is important that the "Wheel of Time" does not try to be too frank and harsh, like "To the witcher"Or" Game of Thrones ". This is still a classic fantasy, which does not aim to shock the viewer.

The special effects are not impressive, but the world and the characters look interesting

Many viewers, as well as critics, can be upset by the scene with the first attack of the trollocs. The evil monsters attacking the settlement turned out to be unnatural and therefore do not frighten at all. And when Moiraine goes to battle with them, it gets even worse: the quality of the effects does not at all correspond to the declared huge budget.

And for this scene, it's even insulting: the heroine's movements are very graceful, but mediocre graphics ruin the whole feeling magic. Installation is even more problematic. In battles, the camera switches too quickly, and sometimes the action is completely hidden in the dark.

But then again, when the characters go on a hike, the show becomes much more enjoyable to watch. The characters find themselves in various beautiful places: on a ferry crossing, in an abandoned fortress city. They meet all sorts of unusual people. Here it is already possible to escape from the problems with special effects and enjoy both the beauty of nature (the project was filmed in several countries of Eastern Europe, from the Czech Republic to Slovenia), and interesting twists and turns. For example, the successful addition of the theme of nightmares of the main characters.

The picture is very elegantly complemented by a soundtrack from pseudo-folklore compositions. It was produced by Scotsman Lorne Balfe, a longtime employee of Remote Control Productions of Hans Zimmer and the creator of the music for "Dark Principles" and the sixth part of the franchise "mission Impossible».

In addition, Jordan's books have always been praised for the interesting elaboration of the world and the characters. And it looks like the show can handle that too. The young heroes represent four traditional characters: the romantic Rand (Josh Stradowski), the witty Mat (Barney Harris), the brooding Perrin, and the precocious Egwene. Moiraine is rude, but strong mentor; her assistant Lan (Daniel Henney) is a model of dedication. In the first episodes, there was perhaps not enough time for Thomas Marilyn from the books.

Gradually, chemistry arises between the characters, on which the dramatic component will be held. And through the mouth of Moiraine they will reveal the prehistory of this unusual world, where there are still more analogies with our reality than with the conventional "Lord of the Rings".

We have to admit that the first episode of "The Wheel of Time" can spoil the experience of the series. But, despite the too quick acquaintance with the main plot, the project is further leveled and, I would like to believe, will develop this way until the end of the season. Then he has every chance to gradually grow into a really large-scale and beautiful saga.