The Shannara
Chronicles
The
Shannara Chronicles aired on MTv on Tuesday night as a 2 hour movie. They made the next two episodes available
today to watch as well. Overall it is a
visually stunning show. The production
values are very high.
Here is my take on the aspects of
the show:
The casting is
very good. I wasn’t sure about John
Rhys-Davis as King Eventine, (too old and short) but he has the voice and
magnetism to carry it off. I was very
impressed with the casting of Manu Bennett as Allanon – he isn’t as large or as
old but he has PRESENCE on the screen and made a very convincing Allanon. Austin Butler is very good as Wil Ohmsford-
much less whiney than the book’s version of Wil is. Poppy Drayton is well cast as Amberle. She is feisty and yet vulnerable. Ivana Baquero isn’t nearly as gorgeous or
seductive as Ereteria is described in the book.
But she is an adequate actress. The rest of the casting is pretty well
done.
The sets are
gorgeous, but they have conflated the time line terribly. The setting is post-apocalyptic; the “Great
Wars” were only 30 years OR 300 years in the past. They were not consistent with that at
all. The post apocalyptic look would be
more appropriate for the books of the Genesis
of Shannara series– set 2 to 3 thousand
years earlier. (Also after watching Life without People – I understand that
most of our structures and “stuff” will last less than 200 years.) I liked the look of Arborlon (Elven capital
city) and the Ellcrys is majestic. The
countryside is okay….but as I said too post-apocalyptic for the story timeline.
The special
effects are amazing. Yep a couple of the
scenes were a bit too gooey for me- but then I don’t like ewwie-gooey
stuff! I loved the special effects of
the Elfstones and the leaves falling from the Ellcrys. The demons are
convincing and the changeling was excellent.
They make Arborlon look like an “alien” city – it is not “human”. The costuming is good, the elves clothing
doesn’t look like basic materials - has an exotic look.
They have taken a
lot of liberties with the storyline.
They had the author involved with the rewrites so I am not as “outraged”
as I would be had they willy-nilly taken over his work. They combined the character of the Dagda Mor
(a demon) with the former Druid, Brona (also known as the Warlock Lord in the Sword of Shannara)- thus also
shortening the timeline. It got a bit
confusing if you listened to Allanon explain that the Dagda Mor had been trapped
by the Ellcrys for thousands of year, but they fought Brona 30 years ago. Yep a
nitpicker I know. They have added new
characters- from Eventine’s sister- Pyria- Allanon’s old flame (uh no!) to
Bandon – a seer. They are not too
irritating and help the storyline along.
Also as part of the shortened time-line Wil is not Shea’s grandson but
his son. Flick and Shea had a falling
out and the magic drove Shea crazy- very different from the books – because
Shea was a larger percentage of elf the use of the elfstones did not affect him
at all- but does affect Wil. They did
steal the “Magic always comes with a Price” from Once Upon a Time- that is no
where in any of the books. They have
changed some of the mythology – the Ellcrys leaves are not trapped demons, the
trolls do not wear old gas masks, and the Ellcrys chooses the chosen – it’s not
a race.
Overall, it is an
interesting and fun fantasy series I feel.
There is enough “familiar” to me that I found myself really enjoying
it! Because it has been changed from the
books, I find myself interested in what other changes they have made. MTv has done a wonderful job translating it
to the small screen. I don’t feel they
have added “angst” to the storyline at all.
I am looking forward to the rest of the season.
Rac80
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