The Premis of the show
The Sandman tells the story of Dream, the titular Sandman. It stars Tom Sturridge as Dream, with Gwendoline Christie, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Asim Chaudhry, and Sanjeev Bhaskar in supporting roles.
In 1916, Morpheus, the king of dreams and one of the seven Endless, is captured in an occult ritual. After being held captive for 106 years, Morpheus escapes and sets out to restore order to his kingdom of the Dreaming.
As I have not read any of the graphic novels or comics that take place in this universe created by Neil Gaiman. I thought I would share my experience with you as I watch this series. I have however watched the trailer back when it was first released, and that did a good job I thought of teasing the viewer, leaving them with a wanting to see and explore the show.
Episode 1
As I do not want to spoil any of the plot for people who have not yet watched the show. And that is probably the vast majority of people. Seeing it premiered only about half a day ago. I will instead try and share my thoughts on the episode. What I enjoyed and what I did to enjoy.
The main thing I have to say is the setting is very nice and gives a very distinct mood that lends itself to the episode. And the only thing I find that "pulls me out of it" is the CGI, but I think I am a minority here. I thought often the actors had a halo surrounding them, clearly standing them out from the CGI background. And that is one of the main reasons why I prefer practical effects over CGI, unless they are done right they stand out instead of blending in.
As an example, the opening flight scene was done very nicely in CGI. It is just all the backgrounds showing things that are not real. If I could have gotten what I wanted, I would have preferred something similar as to how they did Rivendell in LOTR. There they used models, forced perspective, and CGI. And that still holds up to this day.
But I have to say that most people will probably not have any problem with this or the CGI in the first episode.
The actor playing Morpheus has a very unique look to him. And that lends itself to the role very nicely. There is an outer world feel to him. So I would say the casting here is extremely nice. And so far after episode wan, I have nothing but praise for the actor.
The plot
As far as the plot goes, for most of the episode, the viewer is left guessing. But in the end, the show sort of affirms what probably will be the main plot of the series.
We are also prevented by what appears to be the antagonist to Morpheus, or the bad guy if you will. And he left a bit to be desired. But hopefully, he will be a bit more fleshed out as the season goes on.
There is also a side plot that is presented, and I am sure that it will tie into the main race further down the line, but for now, I will call it a side plot.
I did like the unexpected extra layer to the plot, and the choice to do things in the let us call it non-conventional way. I thought that was a nice touch, and brought an extra layer to the main character as well.
What I did not like about the plot was that after the first episode I am left with a feeling of not really knowing why Morpheus want to do what I think he wants to do. And I also have a feeling of no clear goals, it feels more like he now has a bucket list of things he needs to do. And as long as he does them it will all be fine.
It feels sort of like one of those classic shows where they reset everything after each episode, and there is no, or very little, main story. And that is one of the things I was most excited about for this show, knowing it had a complete story, so there are no "final two seasons of GoT", where the showrunners just take a gigantic dump on everything. and it will be no stalling for time with filler episodes like in some animes.
While I am still optimistic about the show, and it left an overall good impression on me. I would definitely say there is some room for improvement.
If you have watched the first episode, what were your thoughts on it? Please share them in the comment section down below.
If you would like to support me and the content I make, please consider following me, reading my other posts, or why not do both instead.
See you on the interwebs!