Dresden Files

[icewolf]

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

Comments

Opinions

[keldi.livejournal.com]

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

[keldi.livejournal.com]

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