Halo (Paramount+) TV Show Review & Comments

Casimir Harlow

Movies Editor
Joined
Feb 28, 2005
Messages
9,258
Reaction score
18,871
Points
8,060
Age
45
Location
Reading
The old trusty Cas 6 ;)

Cheers for this. I can see me checking it out to be honest, I was a big Halo fan back in the day. Only those games with the Chief though. Halo without the Chief is a bit like 24 without Jack.

I like Pablo Schreiber as well. Stole the show in American Gods as Mad Sweeney.
 
I thought it was OK, it's set before the games so shouldn't be too predictable until they catch up.
 
Will give it a go .. Hope it's better than Disney's Bobba Fett trash
 
I thought it was OK, it's set before the games so shouldn't be too predictable until they catch up.

From its Wiki page:


Executive producer Kiki Wolfkill revealed that the series is a standalone story that takes place within its own "Silver Timeline" and that is inspired by the game franchise rather than a continuation, adaptation, or prequel, explaining that they wished to give the two Halo canons a chance to evolve individually to suit their media


Kiki Wolfkill is a beyond fantastic name
 
6 feels right. It's just lacking spark or any real feel for pretty much anything.
I got bored at one point and thought why don't foes just shoot them or slice their joints?
A bare female bottom and side boob couldn't raise my spirits this week and just left me checking this was on P+ - even though I thought it was less clunky than episode two.
 
Be interesting to see if uk get it when paramount + launches on sky
 
It's already been confirmed as Paramount+ UK launch title
 
Completely disagree about the helmet, it's not the same as Dredd at all. Dredd almost never removes his helmet in the comics and pretty much no-one, even other Judges knows what he looks like - it's definitively part of the character. Dredd rarely shows any emotion, in fact he barely has a personality at all other than being the figure-head of the fascist regime of Mega City One. He is the law.

Master Chief does remove his helmet during cut-scenes in the games, and his face is not a secret to the other characters, particularly the other Spartans and officers, they do know what he looks like. The only person who doesn't see his face is the player, because in the game he is your avatar - you are the Chief. It's just a conceit by the game developers to add to the immersion. Unlike Dredd the Chief isn't completely emotionless, he's tough, but there are times when they might want to show a human side. Of course, the Mandalorian has just done the helmet thing and I am sure they were hoping to avoid direct comparisons.

Also the Spartans aren't clones, at least in the games they aren't. The setup is ripped off from Enders Game with them being kids that are experimented on and enhanced, but they are all individuals. In fact almost everything in Halo is hugely derivative of other material, Starship Troopers and Aliens being the most obvious, so hopefully the show can display some originality.
 
Will give it a watch when it’s over here if we get it I think @Casimir Harlow usually is spot on with his reviews,if I do read reviews which I tend to not to do these are pretty much spot on,as for Master Chief yeah he does remove his helmet but you don’t really see his face,I thought this was meant to be getting made into a film with Blomkamp and Peter Jackson involved!
 
If this is a 6, then Moon Knight is a 10. There is no way both are a 6.
 
Yes we learnt that Sly sucked as Dredd.
Interesting review Cas. 6 is not a bad score & I will definitely be giving this a go when it reaches dear old Blighty.
 
Have to say i love the halo series, the games were excellent, and the books that run off different story lines are pretty solid as well.

This entry thus far 2 episodes in is not. Whilst i understand the want for original content i fell it has to be just that, Original, not built partially upon a pre-existing entity that's highly regarded with specific ....... rules if you will.

This for me felt a little bit like a mix of things, from the start of episode 1 with the spartan propaganda.. i could get on board, everything else they were a secret super solider, nice to see them get some credit i guess.

But if your gonna use chief there are things you require, the helmet much like Dredd stays on. No and's if's or buts. I was liking the first episode up until that part, and overall id have rated it about a 6 as well after the helmet thing.

But overall, would have been nice to have Steve downs do the voice, helmet kept on, expansion or side story based off the franchise rather than an original approach at chief and the Spartans, whom are already well established, ill probably watch them all, but so far, unless the story really progressed im not overly impressed
 
The second episode was a massive improvement imo. John is good.
 
Having played no Halo game and knowing nothing about the "Halo" world at all I find myself thinking this is great. Two episodes in and this TV show is a 7 for me.

Stand out, wow, John has such a big nose!

Did Cortana name come from this Microsoft game series then? I didn't know that.
 
My wife who has never played or knew anything about the games enjoyed the first 2 episodes. The show is really not exclusively for fans of the games, it's pretty clear they're trying to expand the fanbase and would be happy if they got more people interested in the games as a bonus. I think it feels closer to what they're doing with the Witcher, it's all about leveraging a great story and characters.

So far on the 2 episodes I've seen I'd give it a 7 but a 6 is fair enough, reviews are of course subjective! Liking the casting so far which seem good fits, especially chief and Halsey. I personally don't think you could keep chiefs helmet on for multiple TV seasons so they may as well have taken it off before it got comical.

I don't want to spoil where the story might go for those that aren't fans of the game but in the books and indeed games (Halo Reach in particular) you get to see that spartans come in different shapes and sizes. They're not clones and they did "grow up" before they were modified hence they all have different strengths.
 
Having played no Halo game and knowing nothing about the "Halo" world at all I find myself thinking this is great. Two episodes in and this TV show is a 7 for me.

Stand out, wow, John has such a big nose!

Did Cortana name come from this Microsoft game series then? I didn't know that.
looking forwards to this, having never played the games either i have no skin in the game, so unlikely to be too disappointed.
 
I imagine that some parts of the screenplay for this dramatised version of Halo will predictably become a topic for the anti-woke critics but overall the Halo universe depicted in this new show is not too bad and reasonably entertaining, if you are a sci-fi fan.
As a non gamer I'm probably at a disadvantage as far as the Halo characters are concerned but Pablo Schreiber just doesn't look right as Master Chief, maybe Rickie Whittle (American Gods) would have been better choice for this part.
The production cost is $90 million so with that investment it is a bit early to provide a considered review of Halo in my opinion, but I do remain hopeful after the long wait to see this show that it will do justice to the Halo franchise. Halo has had some creative investment put in by various film makers over the years, including by Peter Jackson and Neil Blomkamp, now it has its chance to make its mark, if this show fails it may be another long wait before Halo makes an appearance on our screens again.
 
I'm aware of the franchise but I've never played any of the games. Got to a midway point in Episode 2 and realised I wasn't remotely interested. I appreciate you have to give a new show a chance to grow but I just wasn't feeling it.
 
Just watched the second episode and so far so good. In my opinion, not as good as The Expanse but better than Foundation.
 
Watched the 3rd episode last night. I'm really enjoying it, has a dark edge to it and more depth to the characters and dialogue than you get in most of the derivative rubbish thrown our way these days.

Also, as a casual fan of the game, I like what they've done.

8/10 for me so far.
 
Can’t stand this .its getting worse Its really dull and stilted , blandky executed , everything feels so by the numbers and disinterested , worst series I’ve seen for a while . I get the impression nobody making this was remotely invested in bringing something good to life.

I actually had to skip through some scenes with characters warbling arbitrary exposition at each other.

This would be cancelled after the first season if it wasn’t a big franchise.
 
Watched first 2 episodes, I think it's actually pretty good. Better than I thought it would be. Early days yet but promising.
 
Definitely a work in progress for me - some of it is excellent, and then immediately followed up with something crap and frustrating
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom