Sandman

I thought the show was really great the first episodes, dark setting and interesting characters. Somewhere along the way I grew bored by the show however. I will probably watch the second season if it ever comes out since I am a fan of the novels. This was entertaining but the stark difference to how it started and how it ended made it less interesting for me. I hope the next season will focus on what made the first episodes so good. I think maybe sandmand will have a hard time to compete with all the upcoming franchises coming out this fall, I hope I am wrong though!

On another note, 600 characters requirement for a short user review is too damn long!

It's fair to say I've always been somewhat of a fan of the distinctively whimsical, quintessential eccentricity imbued within famous author Neil Gaiman's writing (ever since - in 2011 - first being introduced to it as a child in BBC1's 6th season of "Doctor Who", with his critically acclaimed episode "The Doctor's Wife") & therefore, as a long-time admirer of his impressive portfolio of work, growing up alongside his growing number of flourishing projects, I'd previously made consistent efforts to acquaint myself with his prior TV adaptations "Good Omens" & "American Gods" but admittedly, had never yet had the pleasure of reading the much beloved "Sandman" graphic novels (of which this series is based upon, widely considered to be his best) before. Hence, I personally went in to this season with no preconceived expectations & thus, I must concede - after viewing the first 3 installments - that this Netflix series has completely blown me away & ironically surpassed even my wildest dreams.

Of course, I can only comment as a casual viewer (& am unable to ascertain the faithfulness to the source material, present within these episodes), but within the first 3 hours, we as an audience are introduced to a rich, layered, enchanting world of pure imagination that is creatively borne, masterfully realised & the sheer scope & scale captured from beginning to end is honestly mesmerising. Indeed, it's no surprise to witness peculiar & cerebral fantastical wonders on screen - in a fantasy constructed from the inspired mind of such a quirky, ingenious scribe - yet nonetheless, I still found myself utterly confounded by the sheer regality & majesty of this grandiose, unconventional & wholly epic tale.

It's a credit to all of the cast & crew members involved, who've respectfully & lovingly brought such a breathtaking universe to life & I'm hopeful the quality established here in the preliminary chapters will continue throughout... Because from what I've seen, I'm seriously floored. It is utterly remarkable, beautifully dark & haunted & unlike anything I've had the opportunity to previously binge on the streaming service, in its history.

There's a palpable sense of history & mythology to it which immediately draws you in & I cannot wait to see more. What a major achievement!

In an age dominated by 15-second reels, endless TikToks, and the constant noise of social media, The Sandman did something extraordinary-it made me forget the world around me and pulled me into its own. Watching this series felt like being transported back to a time when stories were allowed to breathe, when imagination ruled over algorithms, and when TV shows were experienced, not just consumed.

The Sandman is a rare gem of the 21st century that somehow channels the soul of the 20th. It reminds me of an era when shows were artfully crafted and not built around trends or virality. The pacing, the visuals, the storytelling-everything feels deliberate and rich with meaning. It's thoughtful, haunting, beautiful, and deeply emotional. It's not just entertainment; it's an experience.

What makes it even more special is how uncommon shows like this have become. In today's content-saturated landscape, patience and depth are undervalued. But The Sandman dares to go slow, to build a world, and to ask its viewers to pay attention. And it rewards that attention at every turn.

This might just be one of the most underrated shows of the 21st century. It deserves far more recognition than it's gotten. If you're someone who misses the golden age of storytelling, this show is your time machine.

Highly recommended for anyone who still believes in the magic of long-form, meaningful storytelling.

If Sandman were doing it's job, episodes 7-10 would explain why we should care about Dream and The Dreaming, not alienate and confuse viewers that do not have an insight into where the epic Sandman storyline eventually ends up. There is little connective tissue from Point A to Point Z, mostly because these episodes lack any real tone or nuance. The show gets busy - strangely more compacted- than even the 24 page comics they are adapted from. These episodes - without the gravity of a gifted actor like David Thewlis - just sort of spiral into nonsense. And since little effort is placed on delineating the importance or role of Dream or The Dreaming (or for that matter, the identities of The Endless as characters or the function of their realms) the series comes off as dull and drab and dim-witted.

"the Sandman" is one if the most emotional, insightful, intelligent comics ever written, and it accomplishes so much by suggesting the fantastical in the mundane. But in this Netflix adaptation, The Dreaming and Reality have no clear identities - just noisy cross-cutting between often drab actors performing rote functions. That's why, perhaps, the performance of Thewlis pops so much. We need to see the consequences of an innocent character interacting with the ideas of a universe so beyond his control. Every bit of momentum that the show builds up in those center episodes puts a greater emphasis on how the first episode and especially episodes 7-10 utterly fail.

Netflix's Sandman lacks scope, and ultimately comes off as pretty silly when it fails to maintain a solid core of genuine human emotion. Why, for example, squander the casting of Stephen Fry and the warm, wonderful Gilbert character with such a slim, unconvincing treatment? Gilbert's journey is essential as a mirror to that of the Corinthian, and all of the queasy menace of a "cereal convention" gets lost in the production's dayglo attitudes, loose ends, and loud box-checking.

I turned on this series the second Rose, Unity, and Jed began stumbling through these awful scripts and questionable performances. Any honest crew could have seen that mess going wrong. How could they not, having obviously understood the significance of, say, "Passengers" and "The Sound of Her Wings"? If Jed, Unity, and Rose are a "family", hiw are supposed to believe that Dream has any real affection for Death or Hob, or even compassion for John Dee or Johanna Constantine? The emotional gravity devolves into nonsensical B-movie execution.

If Sandman gets a second season, it will have to address the elephant in the room - casting and scope will have to get much more expansive and solve a lot of scale problems. Nothing here suggests that this can be accomplished. If you read through the negative responses to the series, you can see that folks don't have a lot of patience for the massive world-building that makes the conclusion of Sandman so moving and philosophically relevant. But as a fan of the source material, one has to ask why a die-hard would want to see such messy adaptations of works that deserve better?

With the two most awkward Sandman texts out of the way, the meat of the series comes next, but nothing in episodes 7-10 suggest that these producers are up to the task.

I really liked the comics back then, when they were published. I haven't read them again since, so I forgot most of the things and so also the story for the first season, if it was ever put into the comics. The show is visually stunning and I like the look. The one thing that was probably cut though for budget reasons was that Morpheus should have way more impact on the dreamworld wherever he goes and visually influence it. That wasn't a major point for me. The lead actor was well chosen, even with the hairdo making me wonder when he would sing songs from the Cure. I don't like the actor for the main villain - the Corinthian - so it was good, that he was the villain, but he more a psychopath than a true evil.

What most people might have a problem with was the slow pace the first season had. I personally didn't mind stories like the human Morpheus was meeting in that pub every 100 years. It added to that existential feel of the show.

While I personally don't like the recent gender swapping in respect to source material - I mean, why not invent awesome material yourself rather than say make a show called "Pippin Longstocking" - it was moderately done so in the show that it didn't hurt personally speaking. What I found a bit sad was that they turned Death from the little Goth chick to some black woman. But I found it worse that she had not so much screen time at all.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot.