I'm on the second episode as I start to write this.
Is this supposed to be a Twilight that sucks less? They've made references to one guy being a werewolf, but we haven't actually seen anything yet, and they are being very coy about the whole thing. One kid appeared to be able to use a bit of mind control, and we can only assume that he is a vampire of some sort.
Mind control boy's mother is Famke Janssen, who you might remember as Jean Gray in X-Men, and she has the most god-awful British accent I think I've ever heard. Her interaction with the other actors is stilted and awkward, and I'm still not sure if that's her interpretation of the character or if she's really that bad. I've seen her in a couple other things, and I think she's gotten this far on her looks alone. Unfortunately, she's not really pretty enough to get much further in life without a bit of talent.
Her house is furnished in 20's era furnishings for no particular reason. I'm guessing they are going with the old standby of Vampires not embracing modernity (assuming she's a vampire or something; as of episode 11, I still don't know). THAT would explain her listening to a damn gramophone. Seriously? Who thinks that's a good idea? Mono output of non-amplified music in a big room that distorts the music coming out?
When I watch Game of Thrones, I'm struck by how good the acting is by the children. In this series, it's the opposite. It's as if the director doesn't understand children and has no idea how to instruct them. Even a simple scene of little girls playing with makeup is mimed so horribly that a middle aged man such as myself knows that they don't play like that. There wasn't any actual makeup on any of the brushes they were using, and they didn't apply too much - which is totally not like little girls.
Is it just me, or are you also getting sick of the 20-year-olds pretending to be high school kids? It's worse when they are pretending next to kids who are probably actually of high school age. Honestly, it's creepy. Creepier than cousins hitting on each other? Well, I can't say for sure, but they've got both in here. Well, they are supposed to be under 18, but there is no parental intervention at any point, and they are freely served alcohol by anyone and everyone from uncles to parents to bartenders.
Seriously, at only three episodes in, I was already tired of the annoying kid in an antique Jag. I know he's a character we're supposed to love to hate, but I just hate him. I want his character to get killed off immediately. I know it won't happen, but that's what I want.
The cinematography is reasonable, the story is so-so, the writing is pretty bad, the dialog is stilted, the acting is unfortunate, but the end of episode two at least gave us a look at the pretty good special effects. However, the process of changing from human to wolf seems very inefficient and time consuming. They went with the idea of shedding skin for the wolf to come out, and that means that a LOT of energy is consumed in this process. The need to hunt and kill just to survive is significant. Still, the special effect was fantastic. Kudos for that small victory.
Netflix, I tried Lilyhammer and had been unimpressed, but House of Cards was phenomenal. This - as of episode nine - is mediocre at best. Even the addition of two fracking cylons isnt making this any better. But yes, it's still a better love story than Twilight. What isn't?
1.75/5