Halo

I am not a Halo Game aficionado. But I watched a few Game Videos, where the cinematic parts of the games are put together.

That said, I think that what this production does is simply the only way to make a consistent SciFi show for a broader audience and not a pure fan-service.

Its decision to show us the human flesh and bone behind the Helmet, how John thinks and how he feels, how vulnerable he is when not behind his armor, how broken as a human, that is the biggest strength of the show from the first season on, and makes this a good experience. Pablo Schreiber is clearly the right choice for this part. Him always behind the Mask, always in combat, would do the show no good.

The Halo TV series can stand for its own as a beautiful, high-level/high-budget modern Space Opera, with the characters and within the world of Halo.

The show does tell a different story than the games, yes. But that is another advantage. If not, it would be just a cinematic recap.

It is, I give that to the critics, not always consistent and perfect. Season one spent too much time on some side-stories and on the new character Kwan, who is kind of annoying to many of the audience, and seems to be hated. But Kwan seems to have a special purpose in connecting the other characters and a big part of the story arc.

But season two is now focused on converging many threads. It is more densely packed and had a breathtaking episode 4, a bit too slow episode 5, in is again gaining momentum in episode 6.

Some voices here write something like "desecration", or even "heresy", as if Halo were some holy book that has to be worshiped. But it is a game with a story and not an Epos that defines mankinds' culture. Some talented people at a gaming company set it up to make it work for players, and now other talented people do the same for the screen. And they do good.

It is not bad, I get that super fans are more critcal about it but overall it is a good show and entertaining.

BUT... Kwan Ha is so cliché heroic side character and annoying as hell. I couldn't get through her parts.

I love "Halo". I find it entertaining, well made in most aspects. As someone said, Pablo Schreiber is greatly underrated and I think that's owed to his masculine hero image, but he can act, I can tell you that. Ironically, even for a character that's supposed to be a silent super-soldier devoid of our "weaknesses", just following orders supposedly -- Schreiber's Master Chief is both a joy and enigma to watch. His mannerisms are on point and he's able to communicate a lot of confliction and other feelings just with his face. Great casting there! The other Spartans are well-cast too. Natasha Culzac starts a bit in the shadows but there's an episode in the second season where she is given enough to show her range as an actress, and her performance had me in awe. Kate Kennedy is consistently captivating on screen, it seems the more she's given to work with the better the scene with her in it. Natasha McElhone is, in some scenes, in a league of her own, which befits an actress of her renomé. But it's a compliment to Halo that the rest of the cast isn't far behind in terms of acting prowess, the show's so much better for it.

Halo doesn't fumble on the CGI. The Covenant are done masterfully, it's all really impressive, at least for a TV show. It's also done with finesse. When plasma bolts are flying, I have to say I am not getting tired of it. All the better stuff's not blown up all the time, the show has commendable pacing switching between meaningful engaging conversations and the rare battle which too seems to be put in the right place.

On a rare occasion, I feel Halo falls into cookie cutter villain territory, but it recovers quickly enough as the more complex elements of the plot are woven back in and get back into front seat.

I find the plot to be complex enough to be thoroughly entertaining.

Halo is a package. You may not vibe with all of it all the time, but it's been long I've had such a pleasure watching a TV show. There's marvelous, ingenous sci-fi out there, and while Halo could be better, I think it deserves my score. It had a tall order to fill -- please the gaming fan base and what not -- but it won't be forgotten by me the way I forget a lot of other stuff I discover and put away.

I hope Halo has a long run on television and I can only hope the actors are given great material to show off their range. It's not often that so much of the cast is so consistenly good, even the chemistry, for the most part(!), works to the cast's advantage.

Let me first say that this is still not Halo. However, season 2 is a huge step up from season one, and is actually now a show that I enjoy and look forward to watching. However, it is still not Halo, but damn if season two has not had a few bangers of episodes and you actually care about these characters now, unlike season one. Not sure what changed behind the scenes, but it was a good thing, whatever happened.

I watched season one because of the effects, which were pretty great! Now, I'm watching because of the story too, which is pretty good! I used to watch the old school Doctor Who because of the story, not the effects budget, which was probably about $150. Story is everything, and this show is starting to have both a good story and big budget. Bravo!

Having read mixed reviews about Halo, I approached it with an open mind.

I was aware that the show deviated from the game's plot. However, this didn't deter my interest as I was more focused on the series as a standalone entity.

I enjoyed watching this series; the special effects and action scenes were phenomenal and always visually engaging. The battles felt visceral and intense, transporting me right into the heart of the conflict. The iconic vehicles and weapons from the games were translated beautifully to the screen.

The plot was sometimes a bit convoluted as it weaved multiple storylines together. There were moments where the pacing felt uneven, with some sections dragging slightly. However, the core story remained engaging, thanks in large part to the strong cast. The characters were well-developed and brought to life with excellent performances. The cinematography was also top-notch, creating a stunning visual world that complemented the story perfectly.

Thankfully, the second season maintained the quality established in the first. It left me wanting more and eagerly anticipating season 3. If you're looking for a visually stunning sci-fi action series with a compelling story and strong characters, then Halo is definitely worth checking out, especially if you can go in with an open mind about its deviations from the source material.