Bloody Disgusting’s “Halo” review covers the first two episodes.
Adapting popular video games, particularly those with extensive history, creates a daunting task in appeasing longtime fans while welcoming newcomers. Then there’s the complete shift in mediums that requires a wholly different approach to storytelling, widening the divide between video games and feature film or television series. “Halo” reconfigures one of gaming’s most commercially successful and long-running franchises for the small screen, slowing down the action to introduce the rich universe.
It makes for a sluggish and uneven start to this loose adaptation.
In the two episodes provided for review, “Halo” gets off to an energetic start. A brief expositional scene explains that humanity has splintered off to fight against the colonizing United Nations Space Command (UNSC), despite being outmatched and outgunned by the unstoppable super-soldiers called Spartans. The exposition gets punctuated by the alien Covenant crash landing on the planet in search of an artifact. The human residents are on the verge of getting decimated completely when the Spartans arrive.
Enter the series’ protagonist, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 (Pablo Schreiber). The indestructible hero intercepts the mysterious artifact, triggering lost memories, and the massacre’s sole survivor, Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha). It begins a personal journey that sees John-117 searching for his past amidst an intergalactic war with complicated sides.
Creators Kyle Killen and Steven Kane must relay a lot of plodding information about this complex universe quickly, and very little of it is interesting. Or, instead, very little of it feels new. Glimpses of the Covenant instill curiosity and visual interest, but the politics of the UNSC fall flat. Not even the machinations of the devious Dr. Halsey (Natascha McElhone) can rise above the tedious and dense worldbuilding. It is all necessary introductory setup to the overarching narrative, but it’s so inorganic and clunky that it comes across as a barrage of info dumps. It doesn’t help that these first two episodes sideline the action and the Spartans, making for a less than thrilling plunge into the universe.
What action we get via the opening slaughter effectively teases the series’ potential. It’s not the most fluid and does awkwardly attempt to capture the games’ first-person style in spurts, but this sequence shows that it’s not afraid to get bloody or demonstrate how ruthless the Covenant can be.
Schreiber makes for an interesting lead. The actor deftly maneuvers around the almost robotic, emotionless nature of the Spartans and infuses hints of depth, vulnerability, and, occasionally, anger. “Halo” opts to have the Master Chief remove his helmet reasonably early on and often, a choice that could prove to polarize the games’ fans. The only other actor of the initial episodes to rise above the stilted dialogue is Soren (Bokeem Woodbine), a charismatic underground leader with ties to John-117’s past.
The world of “Halo” is vast and rich, and the series struggles to provide a foothold into it for those unfamiliar with the franchise. The video games fans might not fare any better with all of the deviations made in the transition to the small screen. The series is a big-budget affair with a hefty special effects budget. It’s polished and pleasing to look at but clunky and tedious. There’s a promise for something far more enjoyable if the expositional setups can get put in the rearview mirror and let the sci-fi action drive the story, but so far, it’s a bit of a slog.
“Halo” premieres on Paramount+ on March 24, 2022.
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