When I first read Game of Thrones I was 16 and spent a lot of time reading fantasy novels. Fantasy is a fun genre but it tends to follow a predictable formula. The farm boy turns out to be destined for greatness and overcomes all odds to triumph against insurmountable odds OR the noble soldier defeats the wicked queen with grit and a bit of luck.
With the death of Ned Stark George RR Martin announced to the fantasy world that he would not be bound by convention. A Song of Ice and Fire really serves a rejection of all the familiar fantasy clichés and archetypes. When they announced the HBO series the death of Ned immediately became my primary concern. It works well on the page and in the scope of a 5000+ page narrative but could it work for TV? HBO built the marketing campaign around Sean Bean and he is easily the most recognizable actor. I can not think of any precedent for a TV show killing of the male lead 9 episodes into the story. Will this turn off fans of the show? Will viewers not familiar with the books leave en masse because of the development? It will be interesting to see. Let me know how you are feeling about it I am curious.
Final thought, I thought the scene itself was perfect. The staging and cinematography were beautiful, I think it surpassed the execution scene in the book which is told in a very sterile matter of fact tone.
OTHER LOOSE GOT Thoughts:
PROS:
Visually stunning, The Eyrie, The Wall, Winterfell
Well acted (Bean, Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Maise Williams) All smaller roles as well (Maesters, Bronn)
Well written, they capture all the big moments. Big deaths, duels, cliffhangers etc.
CONS:
Pacing, only 10 eps left things rushed.
Sexposition: Huge data dumps mixed with gratuitous sex usually with whores. I love tits but it was off putting at times.
Dothraki: Unfortunate nobel savage feel.
Concerns for the future:
Scope only gets larger and more ambitious can constraints of TV manage it. CGI Direwolves, battles etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment