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:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shin Godzilla (2016) - Movie Review

Shin Godzilla is the newest Godzilla film from Toho, the studio behind the Japanese Godzilla films dating back all the way to 1954. This one is a reboot of the franchise, yet again, for the contemporary Japan and the plot is basically what you'd expect; Godzilla arrives and wreaks havoc, all the while the Government tries to defeat it. Since the original Godzilla was inspired by the effects and scars from the WWII Atomic Bombings on Japan by USA, and how destructive and horrifying that power is, this one is similar and was inspired by the 2011 Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster, all the while being disguised in a monster movie. Godzilla in this movie instills a sense of dread and fear as this indestructible monster with the power to lay waste to everything, a biological TERROR, and I really liked that about this movie. The way its proper form looked, particularly the head, was unsettling and that was the movie's intention, so ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spartacus (2010) - TV Series Review (Complete)

Spartacus is a surprising series for me. I first watched it when there were only two seasons out, and back then it was kinda OK for me. Now, after re-watching the first two seasons along with the rest, I found it to be a pretty good series, great even. The series is about Spartacus and how he journey's from being a free man to a gladiator, and then to a leader. The whole series is structured in such a way that their is an overall forward progression with each season focused on a specific part. This results in focus on each area and ultimately they all come together quite nicely. Also, the series is divided into spartacus' related scenes and the roman leaders etc related scenes, developing both sides, side by side, throughout. This not only makes it easy to develop a large number of characters, it also develops both sides and not making it plain black and white. It makes things more interesting, and makes some outcomes way more satisfying. There are A LOT of characters t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) - Movie Review

The Hitman's Bodyguard stars Nick Fury and Deadpo-I mean Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds in a buddy action-comedy where Reynolds is a professional bodyguard who gets tangled up with a hitman portrayed by Jackson.  What worked for me in this movie were the scenes with Reynolds and Jackson together. Their performances were what you'd expect them to give in a movie like this. Not breaking new grounds or anything like that but being their usual comedic personas, and they both were entertaining....well for the most part anyway. They had a nice chemistry, and they worked off each other well. And most of the action scenes were enjoyable, one in particular, which was a long take including Reynolds. The problem with The Hitman's Bodyguard, though, was that it had a lot of other stuff going on as well which just wasn't interesting enough for me to care because not only did it detract from the fun of the main duo, the movie took it way too seriously. It ...
Post a Comment
Read more