The first two ‘InHumans’ episodes got aired on TV at last.
Hurray? Well, no.
As people have learned by now, the IMAX theatres have
already aired the two episodes back in Sep 22, about a week ago, and the result
was very, very negative. That is bad. I was part of the fraction that did not
go to IMAX, but rather waited for the TV release, because reasons, and after
seeing ‘Behold…’ & ‘Destroy…’ last night, I feel that I’m also a part of
the fraction that doesn’t consider ‘InHumans’ to be that bad; rather the show ranges from insipid to immature and
beyond.
Let us elaborate. The main problem, from my P.O.V., is in
the script. The actors – all of the main cast – did their best to live-up the
script, to make it work, as, for example the infamous hair-cutting scene. …Yes,
let us put aside the facts that Attilan’s Royal Guards are clearly made from the
same mold that the rank-and-file troopers from the original Star Wars’ trilogy
were made from, that the fight itself was done in awful (and unnecessary?)
slo-mo, let us try to talk about how Maximus shaved Medusa’s hair, probably in
revenge after she half-strangled him with it earlier in the show instead. Here
is the thing. I do not feel sorry
for Medusa. Not just because the dialogue was awful – “If you cut it, I will
never forgive you”; not because Maximus used the sort of electric razor/hair
clippers that people use on, well, me,
when I go to get my hair cut, but because of AoS.
Yes, that S.H.I.E.L.D. and its characters. In this particular instance,
after seeing all the crud that agent 33/Kara Palamas (and other characters)
experienced at hands of Hydra, Medusa’s plight seemed more comic, and in a
childish way too, than poignant or tragic, or anything like that.
…And the same goes regarding Black Bolt’s communication
modes too. I am not sure why they made him silent in the show – this is not
quite the case in the comics, but…
But in the comics, as an example, Maria Hill had killed
Black Bolt, because it was a part of the struggle against Captain America
turned evil, (yes, it is the same Marvel story arc that I have discussed at an
earlier time), so this sort of argument is pointless. My argument is that
between the translator, (is it Medusa or not? It is hard to distinguish) and
the facial expressions, Black Bolt was made unnecessarily comic…just because?
Again, the actors themselves did a great job, given the bad
hand they have been given. Black Bolt in the muggle…sorry, Earthlings’ police
department? Anson Mount really carried the bad script here, unlike his
character’s takedown by the police.
Let us elaborate. Black Bolt fleeing on foot from several
police cars? A scene worthy of the Simpsons™… in a bad way. His fight with the police? Badly
written and badly executed. Among other things, Black Bolt – the king of the
InHumans and a Marvel™
superhero – proved to be an equal to the police officers of the U.S. state of
Hawaii, who are still average physical human specimens, here, (as opposed to
RL, I suppose). Plus…
Plus, the fact is after seeing the RL police takedowns and
etc., both in the current regime and during the latter Obama years, (Obama was
a Democrat, and not a bad man, but he was no saint), this one was simply fake.
Very fake and unconvincing – but so was the fight between Medusa and Auran, aka
Maximus’ number one fan and sidekick.
This brings us back to AoS, I believe. In comics, Auran is
often depicted with large, bat-like ears that are clearly visible and not
hidden by hair. Here, Auran (Sonya Balmores) is an ordinary-looking person,
with more than a passable resemblance to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s agent May (Wen), both
physically and in attitude. Maybe she will change sides and become a white hate
in the future episodes, but-
But before she fought Medusa in yet another awfully
choreographed fight, she killed a bus driver because he touched her. Medusa did
not do anything, but waited for Auran to exit the bus before they fought each
other. Couldn’t Medusa confront the other woman without the poor bus driver
being killed? Aren’t Auran and Maximus supposed to be the villains of the
piece?
On the other hand, after stabbing Auran, Medusa covered her
with some tarmac and walked away. In some of the last shots of the
double-episode, Auran was shown healing herself from the stab wounds
Wolverine-style and calling Maximus for backup. The problem? The InHumans royal
family (in the show) was a small one, their immediate friends and household –
not much bigger, so shouldn’t have Medusa known about Auran’s healing powers?
Or did she know, but just forgot? Or just didn’t care? Hm?
…Obviously, this is no fault of the actors – in fact, they
carried the show. It is the script that is bad, but…
Unlike AoS, where the main problems was inconsistency, plot
holes, shuffling of actors and roles, and the general disrespect of the
characters, the ‘InHumans’ issue is just that it’s bad. It is not terrible as
IMAX reviews made it sound, and the actors certainly helped to overlook various
gaps of narrative and the general lack of inspiration, but they are still
there. Can they be fixed? Considering that it took AoS to fix the
whatever-it-was-that-went-wrong-behind-the-scenes-in-RL by the second half of
S2, and ‘InHumans’ are just starting, period, I would bet on the long haul. (Or
the long shot?)
So. The ‘InHumans’ are off to a peculiar start. Guess we’ll
have to wait and see until the next month as to where they go from here.
