Atlantis (BBC) - Episode 1 Review
Atlantis is from the people
who brought us Merlin, and even from the man behind the BBC Four series of Dirk Gently between 2010 and 2012. So,
is it actually any good? The series opens with a young man called Jason going
to find his father in a submarine vehicle under the ocean. However, we do not
know his surname, his father’s name, where in the ocean he is, whether he is
rich or poor, where he comes from, how old he is, what exactly his father was
doing when he went missing, is his father presumed dead and a lot more. Then,
none of this is even mentioned.
I’ll make this review quite
short, because the plot holes are pretty big. The episode seems to rush into a
rushed story that rushes into an ending leaving Atlantis, which looks as
Atlantis-esque as a squirrel. But when Pythagoras shows up, it gets so complex
that you have no idea where you are, how Jason got there, when he is in history
and what the heck happened to Jason’s submarine vehicle and his clothes. This
episode sets up mysteries that could be plot holes and plot holes that could be
mysteries, but the fact there is so many and the tagline for this series is ‘the
legend begins’ beckons the idea of not many of these questions will be tied up.
At least Merlin gave us mysteries as
each series came, and tied up every single one and built up each mystery well,
instead of placing them all in Episode One.
Considering
this is the most expensive BBC series ever made, the only impressive visuals
are the locations. The CGI Minotaur makes the Doctor Who one look like a living, breathing creature. Oh, and the
use of the Minotaur – a classic Ancient Greek monster and its labyrinth, is
utterly wasted. Not even ten minutes is donated to it. The story is rushed and
nothing really impressed, although the CGI Lions look quite cool. The acting is
nothing impressive, or the sets, or costumes or props. There is nothing that
engages the audience in this opening episode, and it is a boring fifty minutes
of television. The opening episode for Agents
of SHIELD had one story told in forty-five minutes as well as setting up
interesting questions. Atlantis’ questions are clichéd and can be found in many
other popular (and much better) ongoing series’, so it has nothing special to
it. Even Jason, our only link to the real world, has less character that a bit
of mud. (3/10)
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