Preacher

Preacher is such a weird and original show that I had a great time watching when it was on. It was based off a comic book of the same name. It's about a one time outlaw named Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) who returns to his home in Texas to become the new Preacher in his dad's old church. Once there he gains a power that will change his life forever. From there things get weird and after his town is destroyed he goes on a mission with his ex-girlfriend Tulip (Ruth Nega) and his Irish vagabond vampire friend Cassidy (Joe Gilgun) to go and find God, who left heaven to come to earth and live among us. I told you...weird. But it was such a fun show.

I hadn't even heard of the Preacher comic books (or graphic novels if you wanna be that person) but I also never heard of the Walking Dead before the show and now that turned into a phenomenon. This didn't quite become a major hit but AMC managed to pick another gem out of a pile of more obscure source material and execute it while looking polished but not selling out to appease a wider audience. I guess you're able to have a little more leeway when you're backed by the likes of Seth Rogan (one of the shows producers and he's been hitting some homers too with his comic book choices) The story revolves around a former crook turned preacher who through a series of unfortunate events came across a rather dangerous power that was "misplaced" by heaven and now has an assortment of kooky characters trying to get it back while he stubbornly refuses to return it unless he speaks to God himself who is apparently missing. This is a really great unique concept. It reminds me of Constantine not only in it's way of playing with the christianity mythos but in its antihero main character. Actually all the characters in this show are quite flawed and can in no way be called a hero in a conventional way; another reason I really like this show. The characters are unique and memorable and very well-cast. Some characters that really stand out though are of course the vampire and the bald German man. Very great. The writing is also quite good of course. Lots of wit, nothing extremely deep but it's fun for fun's sake with some really nice twists and blood-splattering bangs (trust me there's no lack of gory violence and outlandish lude humor). It doesn't really try to woo you with any of its sets or effects though it looks pretty but don't go expecting any epic thunderbolts or larger than life hellscapes. It focuses more on the story than on it's visuals. The characters end up tripping up on their own flaws almost too much. I would've been a little excessive if it kept on going the way that they did. 'Glad they reached a pretty gratifying conclusion and not left it with an ambitious "to be continued" though I gotta say they really seemed to stuff that last season with as much lewdness (is that a word?) as they could get away with. They knew it was going to be the end so they almost made another "This is the End". All in all a fun twisted dark fantasy without Kanye West. 7.72/10.

Preacher has to be one of the hardest shows that I've had to describe in all of my reviews. It was so bizarre that if I tried explaining it to you you probably wouldn't want to watch it. So I won't and you should. The biggest thing I can tell you about this show is that I promise you've never seen anything like it and I promise you'll have a good time watching it. It has plenty of violence, drama, comedy, mystery and thrills to keep just about anyone entertained. If you didn't watch this while it was on that's actually an advantage for you because this show is definitely better watched as a binge instead of waiting week to week and then months between seasons. It's not going to be on anyone's best ever list but it's still definitely worth the time to watch.

I can't believe how unique, fun, smart, dramatic and insane this show is. The twists are as unique as the characters... This show is definitely binge worthy... Thank you creators, actors, writers, and everyone else involved in this show.

Let me start this review by stating that I've never read the comic books, so I can't testify as to whether or not this crazy, grotesque, violent and hilarious new AMC fantasy series is a faithful adaptation of the source material. But what I can tell you as an avid fantasy and horror fan is that the pilot left me with an immediate urge to watch the next episode.

Just so you know, this review won't contain anything story related, so if you want to learn what the show is about, read the IMDb synopsis or go to Wikipedia. I believe most films and TV-shows are enjoyed best without knowing anything other than maybe the genre, cast or filmmaker (plus, personally, I like to know about as many aspects as I can about the actual quality of the filmmaking itself). Oh, but maybe this: don't get frustrated if you don't immediately understand just what the heck is going on. The pilot introduces several key characters and important story elements by jumping around quite a bit and throwing you directly into the action, but we're clearly not meant to know and understand everything right from the start. So relax, be patient and have a little faith in showrunner Sam Catlin; the dude co-produced (or co-executive produced) 55 episodes of 'Breaking Bad', 10 of which he wrote, so he should know a little something about storytelling.

What becomes immediately evident in 'Preacher' is that the casting of the title role was a stroke of genius: Dominic Cooper ('The Devil's Double', 'Captain America: The First Avenger') makes for a fantastic lead. His charismatic but nuanced performance as conflicted preacher Jesse Custer was enough to convince me after only one episode that he will be able to carry this series. It's always a balancing act to portray this kind of character with just enough vulnerability to make him appear relatable and human but still have him come across as larger than life, and judging by what I've seen so far, Cooper manages to pull it off perfectly.

I'd say the cast in general is very solid, but the two actors that need to be mentioned most apart from Cooper's preacher are Ruth Negga in the role of Tulip and Joseph Gilgun who plays Cassidy. Both are wicked fun to watch (and obviously they're relishing their parts) and both have completely bonkers introduction scenes for their respective characters that will give audiences a taste of just what kind of crazy, ultra-violent mayhem we're in for with this new show.

Now just to get this straight: there are darkly comic moments abound in 'Preacher' but it is not a black comedy - nor is it as over the top as, say, 'Ash vs the Evil Dead' (despite being pretty over the top at times). Fans of the show's creators, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, would be well-advised not to expect a similar tone in 'Preacher' as in some of the duo's previous works like 'This Is the End' or 'The Interview'. What we have here is probably best described as "dark fantasy" and while it IS peppered with a large dose of dark comedy, I'm pretty sure there will also be some rather unfunny shît down the road for this preacher to deal with.

As for the production values, the visuals (and the visual effects) in general look very nice and the sets convincing; the southern locations have a "lived-in" and appropriately run-down look and the whole small-town, Texan atmosphere is tangible. The cinematography was expertly done (the pilot's DoP was none other than The Matrix' Bill Pope) and the soundtrack is even downright fantastic (if you can appreciate southern songs from the likes of Johnny Cash, that is). The one thing that didn't always work for me was the pacing/editing and the way certain scenes were established, but a slightly uneven rhythm is not uncommon for pilot episodes, so I'm not worried yet.

My overall verdict: 'Preacher' is a show that doesn't try for a second to cater to a mainstream audience; it offers a unique blend of pulp elements and dark fantasy for genre fans who most likely won't have the slightest problem digesting the hefty mix of drama, horror, gory violence and humor. Needless to say, I'm totally on board (and I can't wait for the next sermon). My provisional rating: 8 stars out of 10.

Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/