The Halo series is reminiscent of The Mandalorian. But it also has its advantages.
Miscellaneous / / March 24, 2022
We share our first impressions of the long-awaited adaptation of the games, which will be of interest not only to fans.
On March 24, the Paramount+ streaming service launched the Halo series, based on the Bungie shooter series of the same name. Perhaps later the project will appear on Amediateka.
Halo has long been a long-term project. For the first time, they started talking about the production of the series already in 2013 - then Steven Spielberg undertook to produce the film adaptation. But soon everything calmed down, and they returned to production only in 2018. Then the Showtime channel ordered 10 episodes of the first season, Kyle Killen came to the post of showrunner, and Rupert Wyatt was invited to shoot (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes»).
But the work was postponed, and soon the director left the project due to problems with the schedule. He was replaced by Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders). Then Halo moved from Showtime to Paramount. And then the pandemic hit, stopping filming.
From some point on, fans began to doubt at all that the series would ever reach the screens. But still he comes out. That's just, despite the high budget and a popular source, even the first hour-long series shows the problems of the project.
Interesting world, but too banal plot
In 2552, humanity settled on many planets. The outlying colonies, where mining has been organized, want to secede and gain independence. But all their attempts are brutally suppressed by the UNSC (United Nations Space Command) with the help of Spartan super soldiers: they have superhuman stamina, and besides, they are dressed in impenetrable armor.
But one day, the planet Madrigal, which is fighting for independence, is attacked by terrible aliens. They destroy all the rebels at the base, and only the Spartans who arrived in time defeat the monsters. The leader of the UNSC fighters, who is called the Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber), must deliver the only surviving girl Kwang Ha (Yerin Ha) to the center. But the hero discovers a mysterious artifact and stops following orders.
Of course, it's impossible to reveal the full complexity of Halo's world in the first episode. And fortunately, the authors do not even try to do it. They only throw a few main themes, which, apparently, will gradually develop throughout the season.
And there really is something to see. On the one hand, the series contains a political component: the UNSC is fighting the rebels, but now the leadership needs the support of former enemies to fight the Covenant - aliens. On the other hand, the opening scene already hints that the project will show a lot of action. Still, Halo is based on shooters.
Alas, all the virtues are partly spoiled by one fact: it seems that the main storyline will be Master Chief's attempts to save the young Kwan from his own leaders.
That is, a tough warrior who never (almost) takes off his helmet, betrays his employers in order to save a defenseless companion. And all this in the world of the future, where space flights and battles coexist with political intrigues. Looks like Paramount+ is just showing viewers a new version of "The Mandalorian».
The irony is that the series began to be developed before the famous Star Wars project. But either the authors were too late, or because of the numerous twists and turns they did not come up with a more original plot. And now Halo is becoming a copy that everyone will accuse of plagiarism.
What’s even more offensive, the world of Halo games is even more interesting in some ways than in “Star Wars». And it will be very sad if the authors forget to talk about the universe itself, changing the scale to a banal story.
High budget, but poor elaboration
From the first episode, it's hard to judge the level of the entire series. But the opening scene hints that there will be quite a lot of shootings in the project. Back in 2020, it was reported that filming investedHalo TV Series Spent A Ton of Money Last Year / GameRant more than 40 million dollars. This, of course, is less than that of full-length blockbusters. But for a TV project, it's quite good.
scope series immediately felt. The costumes of the Spartans are cool, several large-scale scenes have already been shown, and in general the world of the future looks interesting.
However, the appearance and movements of the aliens leave much to be desired. The battle with them is too reminiscent of a computer game: there is no feeling that living beings are fighting, everything looks just drawn.
In addition, the authors too often want to recall the original source of Halo: first-person shots are shown three times in one episode. And at the same time, they violate one of the most important rules of the original game: in the very first episode, the Master Chief will remove his helmet, which will again create an association with the Mandalorian. It is clear that this is necessary for more empathy: the viewer should see a person in the character. But in the Star Wars counterpart, at least they pulled the intrigue until the end of the season.
Of course, these are just first impressions. But since Paramount+ is releasing the series in episodes rather than the entire season at once, it's the pilot episode that should keep viewers interested. So far, the project causes mixed feelings: it seems interesting, but it is likely that the action will slide into banal turns.
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