I generally like any kind of military scifi, but I have to say, this show is starting to tax my patience.
When I recall that the episodes are only twenty minutes long, that is actually far worse than it sounds.
The initial setup and "mission" are quite promising, but after that first episode, what was an interesting scifi concept turns into "Quarry Walking Simulator 2014". This begins in episode 2 and continues all through to the end of episode 4, which is about an hour of viewing.
There is a rather weak attempt to turn the show into a psychological study of people put in a difficult situation, but it doesn't really work. The short format of the series, plus the sub-par writing and acting, only makes the characters annoying rather than interesting. Instead of tense drama, you end up with trite stereotypes and predictable scenes.
The CGI isn't brilliant, but it does the job, but, as I have already mentioned, mostly it is a tale of people slowly losing control whilst walking around a large quarry. Quite where the purported $70 million dollars it cost to make the show went is a bit of a mystery.
SUMMARY: A poor man's Pitch Black, hampered by bad writing, acting and with precious little of the extensive HALO universe to show for the budget. Monsters that are clearly designed by someone who thought Matrix Revolutions was good. Considering what was done with the Battlestar Galactica webisodes, there is really no excuse for this.
VERDICT: The wait for a decent HALO series continues...
When I recall that the episodes are only twenty minutes long, that is actually far worse than it sounds.
The initial setup and "mission" are quite promising, but after that first episode, what was an interesting scifi concept turns into "Quarry Walking Simulator 2014". This begins in episode 2 and continues all through to the end of episode 4, which is about an hour of viewing.
There is a rather weak attempt to turn the show into a psychological study of people put in a difficult situation, but it doesn't really work. The short format of the series, plus the sub-par writing and acting, only makes the characters annoying rather than interesting. Instead of tense drama, you end up with trite stereotypes and predictable scenes.
The CGI isn't brilliant, but it does the job, but, as I have already mentioned, mostly it is a tale of people slowly losing control whilst walking around a large quarry. Quite where the purported $70 million dollars it cost to make the show went is a bit of a mystery.
SUMMARY: A poor man's Pitch Black, hampered by bad writing, acting and with precious little of the extensive HALO universe to show for the budget. Monsters that are clearly designed by someone who thought Matrix Revolutions was good. Considering what was done with the Battlestar Galactica webisodes, there is really no excuse for this.
VERDICT: The wait for a decent HALO series continues...