by Elijah Varner
It's the show that the Internet killed! Behold...Marvel's Inhumans! Now while there is much spite, annoyance and hatred towards this series, so much to the point where it might be cancelled before it even airs fully, I will do my best to deliver an unbiased review of this series, regardless to what Rotten Tomatoes may say.
My History with Inhumans
(If you're Inhumans is a more obscure comic book property that I was first introduced to in a comic book series called "Planet Hulk." Black Bolt, the king of the Inhumans, was one of the members of the group that blasted Hulk off into space. He appears later in the follow-up series, World War Hulk. The moon, which happens to be the home world of the Inhumans, is Hulk's first target. Then I witnessed the full glory of Black Bolt's amazing ability to create the force of a nuclear explosion with a mere whisper. It wasn't enough to stop the Hulk, but that's a different story. I soon after researched Black Bolt, and I quickly found he was not the only character to be focused on, but the king of an entire royal family and populace on the moon. Here's the rest of details I found out about this Inhuman family:
Black Bolt: His whisper can shatter mountains. (So what happens if he talks normally?)
Medusa: Can control each follicle of hair. The wife of Black Bolt.
Karnak: A member of the royal guard, and the Inhuman military strategist. Can pinpoint weaknesses by running possible scenarios and outcomes in his head at computer speed. Can see weaknesses in plans, enemies, and relationships (yes, really).
Gorgon: A member of the royal guard. Has superhuman strength, durability and stamina. Also has a sick pair of hooves.
Crystal: Medusa's younger sister. Can manipulate ice, fire, and wind. So like the Avatar, but not bald.
Mad Maximus: No powers. No wonder he's mad.
Lockjaw: A 2,000-pound teleporting puppy. He's a regular guy who turned into a dog via Terrigenesis. Tough luck.
Triton: A man. But also a fish. A fish-man.
With obscure powers such as these, it's a wonder they ever made it to the big screen in the first place. But without further ado...
My Review
I. The Story 6/10
The first and foremost thing when rating a movie is the story, for without a good story, it is all for naught. The story was decent. It does not deserve the rating of 5% that critics give it. I have seen Trolls and let me tell you, this is an Emmy winner compared to that. The pacing was okay. It had twists and turns that had me legitimately concerned. But, unfortunately, what could have been a good plot was ruined by C-grade acting. However, these first two episodes do set up a very interesting plot.
II. The Acting 2/10
I give this two out of ten, because of the two out of the ten characters that had good acting were Karnak and Gorgon. The chemistry between the two was like that of old friends, and most of the best scenes are when the two converse. Black Bolt's performance was somewhat inhibited because of his inability to communicate verbally, and this led him to mostly make painfully constricted expressions that would discipline any child who saw it. Medusa's emoting was blown way out of proportion, especially on this one scene. I was crying, but mostly because of her bad acting. She almost seems to be angrily panting. Honestly, the king and queen need to learn how to smile. Crystal is easily comparable to Padme Amidala. Maximus's speeches intended to rile up a crowd had me shaking my head because of the sheer teenage whininess of it. And then we come to Lockjaw. The two seconds he was actually in the show, he was okay. But it's obvious that this particular effect cost a lot for them.
III. The Visuals 7/10
Contrary to the millions of people who are hating Medusa's hair, it beg to differ. A lot of people say that this show has horrible effects compared to the rest of the MCU. Well, yeah. Take Doctor Strange. That movie was given a 200 million dollar budget to play with for two hours. This show, on the other hand was given a 100 million dollar budget for eight hours, and that's including the extra funding IMAX dished out. Of course they won't be on the same level. But for TV effects, it's pretty good. Medusa's hair, while definitely animated, was not bad. Lockjaw? As said before, he is good for the small amount of time they give him. Other notable features include the powers of Karnak, Gorgon and Crystal. They all felt believable. Karnak's, while it may be confusing to those who are not familiar with his power set, was a joy. Crystal shooting fire was good as well. Gorgon's hooves were well animated, his creating shockwaves with his hooves, less so. Black Bolt's super-voice was good as well.
Recommendation: Watch It
I would not have payed twenty bucks to see TV budget animation on a blockbuster budget screen. And I like to adhere to the proverb that the pilot episode is the worst. So, I would recommend this. I have faith that this show will improve by the end. Lots of plots and subplots are set in motion by these first episode, which is a hook for me. But paying twenty bucks? No way. Downloading the ABC app and watching it? Yes.
What did you think of Inhumans? Let me know in the comments below.
Marvel's Inhumans premiers every Friday on ABC at 8 p.m. Mountain Time.
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