Skip to main content

Westworld (2016) - TV Series Review (Season 1)

"These violent delights have violent ends."

Westworld is a sci-fi series from HBO and is about a futuristic western-themed park populated by artificial being or hosts (as they are called in the series) where rich people can come and do whatever they want.

The premise alone was enough for me to warrant a watch as the subject matter of the series is something I have a very high interest in. And to my utmost delight, the series deeply explored it and gave me the experience I always wanted. 

It is created by Jonathon Nolan (brother of Christopher Nolan) and Lisay Joy, and they both did a marvelous job with it. The world, the characters; the moral, ethical and philosophical dilemmas; all the interesting stuff I look forward to in things tackling this genre were top notch. 

The series boasted an impressive cast with some A-List actors thrown in the mix and the resulting acting was good to spectacular across the board, but the two standouts for me were Anthony Hopkins and Thandie Newton. Anthony Hopkins doesn't really need any introduction, and the dude killed it in every scene, every single scene. Thandie Newton had an interesting role and she performed it perfectly. Her charm and fierceness outshined almost everything in the later episodes.

From set design to special effects to clever editing and pacing, it was extremely well put together. High production quality series. And the soundtrack accompanying was equally great, varying a lot in tone just like the series.  

The only thing I can really say was a flaw for me and not a small nitpick were the action sequences. I don't know but there was this sloppy feeling to most of them. I'm not saying they were bad or anything, they were still good and enjoyable, but when you have everything else SO GOOD, this stood out like a sore thumb. 

Now, due to the nature of the series, any small details can be a potential spoiler, so I'll just keep it short and not give away anything (trust me, I can go on and on about the show but it will be too spoiler-ish). My advice is that if you haven't watched it yet, give it a try regardless of your preference of genre. And if you happen to get hooked, DO NOT read about theories and rumors etc on the net until you are done with the series. Going in completely blind is the best way to experience it.

Best new TV series of 2016 IMO, alongside Stranger Things, and the first season was so dense and well-crafted that it felt like I have watched a mini-series by the time it ended. If they can manage that level of quality in the next seasons, this could end up being one of my favorite series of all time. Sucks that season 2 will be out in 2018. :(

9.5/10

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baywatch (2017) - Movie Review

Baywatch is a movie based on the old TV series of the same name. It's about a bunch of lifeguards on a beach who try to uncover drug smuggling in their area...yeah, that is the plot. It's dumb, it's stupid, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's not good, but it wasn't horrible either.  The movie actually had some fun in it. The Rock, as always, was charismatic, funny and likable; and Zac Efron, surprisingly, was similar to that. He got ripped AF for the movie. Alexandra Daddario was fun as well, although any movie gets bonus points for just including her in my book. Priyanka Chopra was in it as well, and between her in this and Deepika Padukone in XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, Priyanka definitely was the better one.  There were legit funny scenes sprinkled throughout, but there were also a shit ton of scenes that tried too hard to be hilarious but fell flat instead. Baywatch also had a large dosage...
Post a Comment
Read more

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) - Review

This movie is based on a true story about the attack on an american embassy and a secret CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, on the 9/11 anniversary in 2012. And how a few numbers of of Ex-Soldiers managed to repel the attack. Directed by Micheal Bay, I was surprised to see him holding back his Bay-ism and deliver a straight forward focused film. The story got a long build up at the start, setting up the location, the characters and the situation. And then chaos. What I liked most about this film was the fact that you felt just as lost as the soldiers and people in this movie. The confusion, the chaos, the uncertainty, it was delivered quite nicely, creating tension and thrill. There are a lot of characters in the movie, but ultimately it is focused on these soldiers, and while the movie could have done a better job developing them, what it did was good enough in a sense that it worked for the movie. I liked em. Acting varied, with some delivering pretty good performances. Also, again wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Wick 2 (2017) - Movie Review

John Wick 2 is a sequel to the 2014 surprise hit John Wick, and it follows him as he is forced to return to his former life once again. The trailers did a good job of not giving much away, so I'll keep it vague as well. The first one was great, so naturally, I was hyped for the sequel, and suffice to say it delivered where it mattered.  Keanu Reeves once again reprises the role of ultimate bad-ass assassin John Wick, with different character motivations this time around, resulting in a more subdued performance than last time, which nonetheless works for the story, and it's just great seeing Keanu again in style. There are some familiar faces from the previous film like Ian McShane (Winston) and Lance Reddick (Hotel Manager), giving similarly good performances. And new ones like Laurence Fishburn, resulting in a reunion of Neo and Morpheus, which should make any Matrix fan cheer up inside, and he gave a good performance as well. One of the things that stood out to ...
1 comment
Read more