I’d heard the awful buzz, so I guess I went it with low enough expectations to be pleasantly surprised. It’s not good, but it wasn’t terrible. I’ll give it a few more episodes. Most of the acting was surprisingly charming. Action scenes were pretty fun. Story was very simplistic, but there’s a giant puppy, so I’m in.
I heard it wasn’t good, but had already recorded it and so watched it last night. It was as bad as reported. I watched the Gifted last night also, much better.
Are we suppose to like any of the character in Inhumans?
I also dislike the 2 hour intro, shitty move in my opinion.
Inhumans dearly needs an infusion from Agents of Shield, three episodes in and the only tie in we get so far, is the hawaiian mutant telling blackbolt to watch his back, people like him are disapearing. So this takes place sometime around Season 3 of shield.
I’m interested enough to run out the season, but I don’t see this one getting a renewal, unless Disney steps in again.
Seen first two episodes (the pilot was split up, here) and not impressed. I’ll watch more, but so far, the key word for me is “plodding”. It’s sooo fucking slow, but not in a good (e.g. Legion) way. And the action scenes are dull - the Medusa-Auran fight by the bus especially.
Oh, and everyone before was going on about how bad Medusa’s hair looked - well, to me, that pales in comparison to how utterly naff Gorgon’s legs look. We can do much better unguligrade legs nowadays, either all CG or prosthetics, there really shouldn’t be any need for this terrible “furry footed pants with hoof-toes” look. I’ve seen way better legs on LARP costumes.
I think I’m done already. The 2nd (3rd hour) episode was still slow and plodding. The characters are still non-engaging, the story still a mess.
we’re pretty close to that as well - my biggest eye roll has to be Medusa missing BlackBolt by ‘this’ much at the jail - and wasn’t that pretty fast putting Blackbolt into PRISON for stealing a suit?
I think maybe the assaulting of officers, trashing of cop cars and clearly being an undocumented Inhuman might all have a *leetle *something to do with it beyond shoplifting…this is likely a post-Sokovia world, after all.
Still - that might get him denied bail in a local jail awaiting arraignment - it would not get him transferred to prison without any semblance of a trial.
I’m not entirely sure of the timeline - but this has to be within a day, maybe 2, since he arrived.
I realize this makes me sound like I am looking for ‘reality in a comic book show’ - but this sequence just bothers me for some reason.
I realize the main reason for it is to keep him and Medusa separated (well, all of them really) , and to get him mixed up with helicopter guy - but it just isn’t working for me as well as I would like.
I think I would much rather it be the tables turned - that the usurper took a team of inhumans to earth in an attempt to takeover and Blackbelt/Medusa, et all - were coming down to try stop him …
The analogy here is to a dangerous terrorist. Do you think such would be kept in a local jail?
I liked how Gorgon just kinda bumped into his very own guerilla army on the beach. Yeah, of course we’re gonna risk our lives and kill people for you, guy we just met half an hour ago!
Finally watched the premiere
His inability to speak isn’t the problem, it’s his inability to act. He has that frowny-face down, but not much more. (Also, who names their child “Black Bolt”? What the hell is that?)
This show needed to be massively rethought beginning to end. Someone needed to be likeable or interesting and none of the characters are. The pilot was two factions of horrible, boring people. I don’t want any of them to “win.” I don’t care if they all die. (The dog is nice. I don’t want anything bad happening to the dog.) I assume that whatever happens here will have some effect on Agents of SHIELD, so I suppose I will have to find out how it all ends. But, I’m not going to watch it to get there.
Would it be better if I told you that Black Bolt was short for Blackagar Boltagon?
Just curious, regarding that last episode.
I’m not a dog person and the whole spiel about Atalan growing their crops, made wonder how much a dog like Lockjaw would eat. Not the normal terrestrial size, but a pony size dog. Thats a lot of kibbles and bits.
That princess thing was funny.
I’d think Lockjaw could teleport himself to any Earth dogfood factory at night and eat his fill…
The whole thing just seems so low budget and amateurish. They immediately split the team up, cut Medusa’s hair so save on their FX budget, nerf Lockjaw to save on FX and basically get rid of that deux ex machina, and Gorgon & Karnak’s side stories are so lame and boring. The way they’re depicting the native Hawaiians, I dunno, I’m not Hawaiian, but it feels patronizing or something.
I’m so disappointed. It could have been fun.
That whole scene with Crystal and the human guy on the beach was so bad. Awful dialogue and cringeworthy acting.
I noticed that this was an option on Disney+ and thought, what the hell, I’m off for a couple days and it’s too damn hot to go outside.
Since I already knew that it was not on the level of other Marvel offerings I went in with low expectations. I have also been familiar with the Inhumans in comics since the 1970’s so I already knew they were not warm and fuzzy protagonists.
And the verdict is… not up to Marvel standards but may be enjoyable if you’re expecting a B-movie tale. I found some enjoyment in it although I also glad I didn’t pay extra to see it.
Don’t feel you need to read further if all you wanted to know is whether or not it’s worth watching, the rest is idle thoughts on my part that you may or may not find entertaining.
A few things:
His name is actually Blackagar Boltagon - Boltagon being the family surname. Medusa’s full name is Medusalith Amaquelin-Boltagon (her birth family being the Amaquelins). Maximus is Maximum Boltagar. The names we hear in the show are shortened forms of their full names. Given that there are, apparently, only 1400 people in the entire city I’m not surprised that shortened forms and nicknames are rampant since most people likely know most other people. At least at present that’s their names. I remember when the Inhumans were recurring “guests” in the Fantastic Four comic book (Crystal was a member of the Four for awhile, replacing one of the others, and she and the Human Torch were a couple for awhile) and it wasn’t apparent at the start that something like “Black Bolt” was a shortened form of his name. In Multiverse of Madness when the Illuminati universe Black Bolt is introduced they use his full name.
Given that Lockjaw can teleport to Earth it is entirely possible they’re picking up extra-large bags of dog kibble at Wal-Mart and transporting them back to the Moon. In fact, that might be a way they deal with all sorts of supply issues.
Medusa’s hair, and lack of it: The rumor that they shaved Medusa’s head to save on SFX seems to have staying power, and I can believe it. Honestly, the FX they use are… not done well. So not done well that I almost found it a relief they shaved her. On the other hand, she is still portrayed as a strong (if bitchy) woman who even without super powers is capable, decisive, and able to kick ass in a fight so… not the worst portrayal.
Gorgon’s hooves are shit. I’d heard so much about Medusa’s hair that I expected it to be the worst effect but it wasn’t. When Gorgon had hooves they were shit, like bad cosplay. On top of that, half the time, with no explanation, he was wearing boots instead. Not hoof-boots like in the comics but normal human boots for human feet. Totally WTF.
Uneven fight choreography. Some fights were well done. Some were shit.
I do think the actors were doing their best with what they had. Unfortunately, it also shows not all actors are equally talented. Iwan Rheon (Maximus) really turned in a performance. Anson Mount (Black Bolt) was handicapped by the fact his character had a total of two words in the entire production. Acting without speaking is difficult, just like acting in a full mask/suit of armor (see The Mandalorian and anyone who wore the Darth Vader suit) is difficult and not something most actors are called upon to do. It’s not a universal skill. In some ways I wonder if casting a Deaf actor, used to conveying meaning without speaking, would have worked out better but rumor has it that the exec behind the TV Inhumans was… less that open minded about casting choices. But all the performances are marred by too many instances of standing around talking, and the dialogue is the fault of the writer(s), not the actors.
The City of Attilan looks like an unfinished factory, a sewer, and the back hallways of places like hotels and conference centers. I have no doubt the paucity of decoration saved on costs but it looks terrible. The Inhuman city looks like a prison. It only suffers more in contrast to the scenery-porn of Hawaii where the outdoor Earth scenes were filmed.
Another major problem is that on a fundamental level the Inhumans are not likeable to most audiences. Black Bolt is an absolute monarch. They are a society that subjects their members to involuntary transformations and a rigid caste system based on the results of those transformations. They are eugenicists. They are not at all democratic or egalitarian. They are arrogant and racist and bigoted. They are not sympathetic and never have been. In the comics they have frequently been adversaries and antagonists and only sometimes allies. This is likely why their own titles never became wildly popular. I have long found them interesting but not particularly likable.
No attempt was made to make these people more likable, and for the TV series it could have been done with just a few lines of exposition (and it’s not like the writers were afraid of exposition). Something about the harsh constraints of living in a small area of the Moon requiring a level of discipline and control not necessary when living someplace like Earth. Something about such a small population requiring attention to genetics/eugenics to avoid dangerous inbreeding. Something about fearing to return to Earth because they’d be a feared minority being why they put up with the conditions in Attilan. No wonder so many wound up liking the dog more than any other character.
The Inhumans were SO bad that, even though I was a fan of their original comics, when a couple of them showed up in Dr. Strange 2, I was silently yelling “NOoooo, Marvel, just forget they ever existed! Admit you screwed the giant pooch and move on to other characters!”