natural_critic

This is a fast-paced and entertaining show but nothing ground-breaking.

The writing has major issues. Some characters act in a completely illogical ways and we also get some cheap gotcha moments. At some point I'd ask myself "how did a character manage to get to the city if all of the FBI is after them patrolling the streets and etc."? But somehow it is completely omitted how they snuck into the city. The show has the type of sloppy writing that you often see in mediocre productions.

I like the energy that Claire Danes brings to the table but her character has zero chemistry with the former spouse character. Plus their whole sad backstory is a massive cliche.

Matthew Rhys is a good actor but something in the way he speaks and behaves in this show annoys me. Maybe this is on purpose.

On the flip side, I really like David Lyons in this, a less popular actor but he absolutely shines in his role. He's my favorite character but unfortunately the script does him dirty.

All in all, it's a decent show but quite shallow. I get it, the bar for TV shows is low these days (especially Netflix ones), but this series is still far from a high quality show. Everything happens quickly and doesn't have enough time to sink in. After seeing this series I hope to see more of David Lyons in better shows. He was the best part of "The Beast in Me".

"Welcome to Derry" is more of the same thing if you've seen the 2017 movie. Basically, kids being tormented by heaps of CGI monsters.

So if you have a show that's so monster heavy, you'd expect the effects to be good. Well, they aren't. The effects are computer generated to such a degree, they're painful to watch. The fakeness of the effects makes the horror completely ineffective. It's simply not scary.

Think of good monster movies such as "The Thing" (1982), or even "Jeepers Creepers" (2001). These movies are so effective thanks to having great practical effects. When you can see that something is physically there with the actors it's a whole different experience. You can feel the grossness, the fright, the disgust. Material monsters simply move, look, and feel tangible which can't be said of computer-generated effects.

Sure, practical effects require more effort, expertise, and probably money but if it's worth doing it's worth doing well, right? Right?

"Welcome to Derry" is more exhausting than it is scary because of its overuse of CGI. Other issues of the show include bad acting from some of the cast and predictable plot.

"It" movie from 2017 also severely overuses CGI but at least has better acting, dialog, and character dynamics. I hoped "WtD" might rehabilitate the franchise and use better effects but sadly this show is wasted potential.