Krypton

I wish I'd smoked whatever the 10/10 reviewers passed around but this show starts with very little originality. It's annoying that they felt the need to dumb down the plot with a current Superman villain and try to make sense of it with a time traveler. Very been there, done that. Save yourself some time, everything is in the trailer. Wait until the end of the season to see if it improves and becomes binge worthy

I was and am intrigued by the story line but unfortunately there have been some serious errors in the casting of this series. A number of the players come across as if they had been dragged from "The Bill" or "East Enders".

It's 200 years before the birth of Superman. As a child, his grandfather Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) witnessed Seg's grandfather Val-El being sent into the Phantom Zone for opposing the new isolationist government and the House of El was stripped of its rank. He would grow up struggling with the lost of his family's standing. He is warned of impending doom from Brainiac by Earth time traveler Adam Strange. He has a secret relationship with Lyta Zod (Georgina Campbell). Her mother kills his parents for being part of the Black Zero rebellion. The big villains include Brainiac and General Zod from the future who is the child of Lyta and Seg-El.

I like the world of Krypton. I like most of the characters but I can do without Adam. I'm not familiar with this classic DC character. Quite frankly, I hope that character is much better than this. More than anything, Adam is unnecessary. He takes away agency from Seg-El. He muddies the water and diminishes the lead character. I want Seg-El to fight for his own reasons rather than some unknowable descendant or some preordained future. Adam is a tightly constricted guard rail forcing the story to its inevitable conclusion which leads to the show's main difficulty. It is a prequel and the story is obviously not allowed to have freedom of movement. It's two seasons and it runs out of steam by the second season although it does have the fun of introducing Lobo.

As a fan of the Superman films old and new I was pleasantly suprised at this refreshing take on a story thats been told as many times as the death of Bruce Waynes parents. It's not without its issues, the acting is a bit wooden and emotionless in parts but its got my interest for now. Some people have commented on the CGI being poor, i'm thinking the exact opposite, I think its pretty good for a TV show. It's a bit strange seeing Krypton with such a modern look but thats just me thinking back to the Christopher Reeve days. Let's see how the next bunch of episodes unfold but I will be watching the next one thats for sure.

The bones of the superman franchise have been picked so clean it was inevitable the last and only untapped morsel left would sooner or later attract TV producers hungry for new material.

Whilst hoping to turn a profit on a well worn idea taken from a different perspective seems like a safe bet the reality, as in any business venture, is risk is where real rewards are to be found.

Kyrpton has actors with European accents, I'm guessing to try to step away from the atmosphere of leaden monoculturalism, attached to many US productions. Its hardly a new move but it has been known to work.

That said if you look beyond this not so novel ploy this is just another formulaic series that's been done a thousand times before. Dystopian society, noble family who must rise from the ashes and so on.

Truly successful series work because they offer a point of difference. The idea does not have to be new in itself (few are) but it does need to be different and imaginative enough to hold the viewer.

The other shortcoming in many many modern TV series and this is no exception, is it doesn't challenge the intellect in a meaningful way. It has some bare bones narrative but for the most part its driven by eye candy and exposition.

Until TV execs get the idea that people are not stupid, vacuous or "simply" entertained I suspect this is the future television has to offer. For me it makes the decision to re-visit my books that much easier. A disinterested five out of ten from me.