icewolf: snowy wolf (mystical strength of a doily)
Icewolf ([personal profile] icewolf) wrote2007-01-22 12:14 am
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Dresden Files

Very nicely done. The series strays from the books in letter, but never in spirit. Terrence Mann as Bob was absolutely inspired. Especially, "If you walk though those equations I'll start belting show tunes from the sixteenth century." Casting is dead on for all characters.

Drawbacks: Not sure how I feel about Murphy having a kid, even off screen. That empty-nestness of hers is so integral to her literary characterization. And the format of coming back from every commercial to Atlantic City 1981 got real old real quick. I'm hoping that won't be a regular feature.

Now I warned you about spoilers, and here's a big one. I kind of like that Justin DuMorne is still apparently hanging around causing trouble. The TV series can't take nearly as long as the books did to ramp up a serious nemesis, and Justin was practically built in. I'm not sure why they bothered making him related to Harry. I guess the better to know Harry even exists, the better to know he's got power, and the better to get custody once Dad Dresden's been done away with.

The effects are fairly understated, but very well done. Especially Melissa's demise and Bob's retreat to his skull. I can't wait to see if they tackle the Fae Courts, and if so, what it'll look like.



All in all, a well done urban fantasy television series. It's apparently set to be rebroadcast a couple of times this week. I highly recommend catching it. I know I'll be watching it again

[identity profile] elkor.livejournal.com 2007-01-22 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I kind of like that Justin DuMorne is still apparently hanging around causing trouble.

I'm not convinced that it is his "uncle."

They mention that he "Self Defensed" his uncle to death (which I thought was pretty amusing way to put it), and I doubt very much that the White Council would make a mistake about that.

Good point about Murphy and a Kid. I'm not sure what relevance it'll have to anything, probably a kidnapping later in the series.

[identity profile] arakasi1.livejournal.com 2007-01-22 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I had a different view, which I went into in detail here

[identity profile] dejla.livejournal.com 2007-01-22 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm very fond of Terrance Mann; it's nice to see him getting work on TV as well as stage.

The roommate, D, has read the books; I haven't. She thought making Bob visible as a spirit was a clever idea, easier to deal with on screen than a talking skull.

My impression was that Justin had been killed in the books, by Harry. I do hope they aren't going to follow the route of the same bad guy turning up over and over again, the way they did on Farscape.

[identity profile] greyhalfdrow.livejournal.com 2007-01-22 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm trying very hard to keep an open mind about the series, infact it's on the tv right now.

Some of the changes made sense, Harry's place being a bit more open mainly so cameras could actually see in it.

Justin still being around made alot of sense and i really think he's more the "uncle" type. Claiming to be "related" to mom and I think having more to do with dad's death.

I liked it and will probably watch more of it.

Opinions

[identity profile] keldi.livejournal.com 2007-01-23 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
I found the show to be okay if I really tried very hard to envision it as an "Elseworlds"/"Sliders" scenario. (For the non-comic readers; Elseworlds is where DC did one-shot "what if" stories. What if Bruce Wayne's parents hadn't died? That kind of thing.)

Unfortunately, that kind of scenario usually annoys me. Sliders mixed it up by making a different Elseworld every episode, which I could deal with... especially since the main characters remained the same. (Despite how this sounds, I'm not really a "purist". I loved "V for Vendetta", despite it being rather different from the comic.)

Anyway, on the show itself. The presentation of Bob was very well done, and the actor chosen is great, but the backstory and personality change kinda frustrate me.

Murphy and Harry don't have much charisma in interacting with each other yet, and Murphy doesn't seem at all like the character in the book. From the reply someone else linked to, (apologies for forgetting the name!) it seems like Harry will have a better script to follow in the next episode. The actor is fantastic for the part, I don't think he had much to work with though.

Finally, I'm going to agree with an article I read; this was a lousy episode to use as the premiere. Harry barely used magic, barely made any wisecracks, didn't show off any badassery... they really need to show off what's special about the Dresden Files, and fast, or the show's going to bleed viewers. I can't in good conscience recommend this "first" episode as a good introduction to the series, because first impressions are really important for getting someone hooked.

I just pray there's a very good episode coming along soon, or things may turn out badly... and the show's got tons of potential. I'm completely confident that with the cast and writers and setting they have, something fantastic can result... but the question is whether or not it will before the show gets canned.

We can hope.

-Koko out

Re: Opinions

[identity profile] keldi.livejournal.com 2007-01-23 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
Oh yeah; please please please, ditch the kid. (Not Murphy's, the other one.) His acting wasn't terrible for someone his age, but having a regular kid on the show... it would be like putting concrete shoes on the show and throwing it off a bridge.

I can't emphasize enough how much I want the kid to never be seen again.

-Koko out