Last weekend the long-awaited Love, Death + Robots anthology premiered on the Netflix streaming service, and since I really liked the first volume (the show's creators insist on that title instead of the usual season definition), of course I couldn't pass by and devoted one of my evenings to it. A little confused by the fact that the episodes were much fewer and the show became more entertaining, but overall I was very pleased with what I saw and happy to share my impressions.
For convenience, I'll arrange the episodes according to the principle from best to best, because fortunately, I didn't find any passable episodes in this volume :)
Life Hutch
The pilot of a battleship (Michael B. Jordan) crashes and tries to send a distress signal from a small rescue base, interrupted by a deranged robot helper trying to kill him.
A very good thriller, based on a story by Harlan Ellison and the impressive quality of the animation makes up for the simple dramaturgy. You can see that the animators put a lot of effort into every drop of sweat.
Automated Customer Service
In the distant future, a town of old people is served by robots, but one of the vacuum cleaners has a conflict with its owner, and customer service is not much help in troubleshooting it.
An episode that definitely would have found a place in "Black Mirror." Satire, black humor, cartoon animation and maximum compliance with the title of the show :)
Ice
Animation artist Robert Vallee created probably the best series of last season, the philosophical "Zima Blue" and his unique style is just something incredible, so I expected his new work to have just as much effect and by and large it did.
A simple story about brothers trapped on a distant, cold planet is fantastically drawn, and although it doesn't make as much sense as his last series, because of the pace of the narrative, the existential ending and the majestic "space" whales it's impossible not to praise him.
Snow in the Desert
The immortal albino Snow lives in the desert on a remote desert planet, but one day bounty hunters come after him, willing to do anything for the impressive reward of his testicles.
Another visual masterpiece in this volume. An incredible degree of detail. A world reminiscent of either Mad Max or Fallout or Star Wars. Plus the most brutal and bloody action scenes. It is felt that the authors of "Beyond the Aquila Rift" have once again raised the bar of animation quality, but the plot came out somehow not so good.
All Through the House
I won't say anything about the plot, but I've already shown this episode to all my friends as an example of a great horror comedy.
It's only five minutes long, but it's very easy to love it for its great humor, top-quality puppet animation, and references to Alien and Guillermo del Toro's monsters.
The Tall Grass
Made it to the top three and one of my favorites of this volume was the episode "The Tall Grass," directed by Simon Otto and brilliantly combining the atmosphere of Stephen King and Howard Lovecraft's works.
Far be it from me to say that the main character even resembles the latter and his trademark narrative style.
The Drowned Giant
Directed by the show's executive producer Tim Miller and based on a text by James Ballard, author of "High-Rise" and "Crash," about a slowly decaying mystery giant thrown ashore by the surf.
Very sad stuff, working somewhere on the level of feeling and causing real dissonance and a great reminder of the strange sensations we loved this show for. A unique experience and one of the best episodes of both seasons.
Pop Squad
And at the top of the list, of course, is Pop Squad from Blur Studios. It's hard to believe that the same people who made the hilarious "Kung Fu Panda" were involved in this story about a future in which the lives of children became the price of immortality, and the final third of this neon film left me literally bursting with emotion.
The kind of thing where the end credits roll and you don't have any energy to hit the stop or rewind button. It makes you think and leaves an exceptional aftertaste.
Such are the thoughts, and of course I can't help but say that if in the first season the main question before the credits began was "what just happened," in the best traditions of Phillip K. Dick's stories. Dick, now it has become "how was it already?" and each of these stories literally demands a sequel.
I have no idea what the next volume will be, but "Love, Death and Robots" is still good and I really hope it's not limited to a third season.