"Banshee" is one of the series of series that I heard about a long time ago, but never had the opportunity (or the desire) to watch it. I heard about it for the first time from my friend Paulina a few years ago and a few days after the recommendation, I decided to give the first episode a chance. I didn't like it, but there was no reasonable reason behind it - I just don't like (and before that I really didn't like) movies and series about real life, the police and focusing on action. After watching maybe 20 minutes, I stopped the screening and although I planned to return to it a few times, I never did. We didn't have anything to watch recently, so we decided to check Netflix and HBO, and seeing a familiar title, I suggested trying to watch episode 1. This is one of the best series I have seen in recent years and the best show in terms of hand-to-hand combat. So far, I have not seen a single movie or series that would be as good in this respect.
Let me start with them. As I wrote, among others when reviewing "Nobody", I don't know much about martial arts or street fights. Sure, I like to write about them in my lyrics about this type of anime, series etc. but apart from general slogans that can be written by anyone who has at least a little explored this topic, I have nothing substantive to write. However, you do not need to know about them to appreciate the actors, choreographers and creators of "Banshee". I do not know if such fights are of practical use in everyday life (i.e. some punch sequences do not seem painful or useful, at least to my amateur eye), but individual strikes or the use of objects available at hand (pieces of wood, ceramic plates, pieces of metal and others) as much as possible. I have seen more than once how the heroes of "Kengan Ashura", "Atomic" Blonde "," Nobody "or other productions hit their vital points, but none of them showed it so well and painfully! in the perineum, liver, base of the nose, throat, eyes, solar plexus, genitals, knees Attacking these points will knock anyone down, no matter if the opponent is someone who is large or resistant to pain. and overcome pain and minimize the period of stunning, and there are many such bad-asss in this series. There are many fights, they are often filmed on one shot without cuts or other editing tricks to break the sequences at key moments and then shoot the next ones. probably some of them were shot this way, they were also pretended and guarded by specialists so that no one would hurt anyone, but as I wrote in the introduction, no show has presented them so well. that these were real fights, not a presentation of professional stuntmen. All the blows and the use of the elements of the environment were presented with reverence. Every detail has been taken care of, such as weight, reaction time, showing the injuries caused by blows, the difference between men and women. I also recommend it to people with left-wing views to convince them that women, as a rule, do not have the slightest chance in fighting a man when they do not have an object at hand and rely solely on their muscles. As a rule, I wrote, because, as one of the characters shows, there are exceptions to the rule. Women tend to have a more flexible body, better observation of their surroundings, and better reflexes, unlike many men. However, they are not very important when a woman has too fragile body or too little muscle mass. In the case of us males, it is easier to make someone a fighter, and females have to meet more criteria.
This is due not only to the creativity of the choreographers, but also to the skill of the actors. Even if they were replaced by doubles in the most difficult scenes, they played so authentically and charismatic that you could get the impression that they had no substitutes and it was them all the time. Each of them makes an impression from the very first appearance on the screen, and then it only gets better. Even in the case of Asian Drag-Queen, which has emphatically demonstrated that someone who looks inconspicuous should not be underestimated. As for the female characters, these also sometimes fight in a beautiful way, but more often we see them in sexual scenes, which are not lacking in "Banshee". In this case, both women and men have something to look at. Muscles, nice bodies and faces, well-edited and very erotic scenes - even better than inter-lesbian sex in "Atomic Blonde" in my opinion. I liked all the important heroes. They are not original creations and if you watch this type of productions, you will surely notice a lot of clichés, diagrams and ideas that you have already seen somewhere before. However, they were written and portrayed so well that it did not bother me at all during the screening. Excessive happiness of the heroes and sometimes a pretext scenario? In virtually every episode it is. Bending the laws of physics (a big guy capsizing a police car from the inside) and sometimes an extremely large stamina etc.? Daily bread. Usually it bothers me while watching, but "Banshee" mixes the patterns from my youth action movies with the current trends in the genre so well that I watch it without complaining. It only gave me a bit of a grinding noise when Job hacked certain things (CIA satellites, for example), but these are the sins of exaggerated films - either you accept it or not. Besides, it's ok, the action is dynamic, sometimes we have story solutions unusual for this genre (like in "Hunter x Hunter" when it comes to anime or "Invincible" in the case of American comics), the characters have an interesting character, there is no boredom, we have different sceneries. I will tell you about the heroes in the reviews of the other episodes, for now I will only say that I really liked Procter, Sugar, Mr. Rabbit, Lucas, Kelly, Clay Burton and Rebecca.
The plot tells about a thief who was released after 15 years in prison. The main character robbed the boss of one of the Eastern European mafia for whom he worked for years. Running away from him, he ends up in the town of Banshee, which is adjacent to the Indian reserve and the Amish village. As a result of a series of events, he steals the identity of the new sheriff, who has just arrived in the city and was to start a new job the next day. From now on, the hero is called Lucas Hood and he starts making changes to the corrupt community in a quite ... Hmm, unusual way. He is direct, ignores police procedures, beats criminals and some people who get in his way. It turned out that Carrie - his former lover and partner in the thieving trade, whom he saved by putting himself in the hands of justice - lives in the same city. Carrie changes her name to Ana, has found a new partner, has two children and is trying to make a new life for herself. Unfortunately, the arrival of her ex-boyfriend turns her life upside down and makes their former boss, and at the same time Carrie's father, want revenge. Banshee is ruled by Kai Proctor, who keeps the mayor in his hand, runs local businesses (he provides them with "protection" in exchange for paying tribute), generally nothing happens in the city without his knowledge. Additionally, his mini-mafia empire makes money through prostitution, drug trade and production, and gambling. Lucas befriends Sugar (a black ex-boxer and criminal who runs a local bar) with whom he lives. Soon after, they form a team that deals with thefts at night. It includes Sugar, Lucas, Job, and over time Ana comes to them. It does not disturb him in his work, and even helps - thanks to his hidden identity, he has access to knowledge that he would not have had as an honest sheriff. He needs this one to fight Proctor, solve problems with Indians, and more.
Summing up, despite the exaggerated action and bending reality to the needs of scriptwriters, I recommend this series to everyone. Great entertainment with a not stupid scenario, but extremely pleasant for the eye and soul. I do not recommend it only if you are offended by excess blood or brutality, or you are disturbed by the disadvantages of this type of production (a hacker who can literally do anything like a mage in "The Witcher", exaggerated combat sequences, characters who exhaust the few-year happiness limit in one episode, etc.). They are not particularly painful, but if you have a low tolerance for them, you can get tired. I didn't like them for most of my life, but for the last few years I have been gradually changing my attitude towards films and at the moment only three moments made me feel embarrassed. However, I managed to forget about them because the action was going too fast. I rate the 1st and 2nd seasons at 9/10.