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The Wheel Of Time Review: Rosamund Pike Weaves A High-Fantasy Tale With Little Traction
The Wheel Of Time can make up for the last of fantasy releases, however, it may not measure up to the expectations of the readers and high-fantasy genre fans.
Available
On:
Amazon
Prime
Video
Duration:
60
Minutes/
3
Episodes
Released
Then
Weekly
Language:
English
Story: The Wheel Of Time, follows Moiraine, a member of the Aes Sedai. The powerful organization of women who can use magic are tasked with making sure the reborn Dragon (prophesied to either save the world or destroy it) does not fall into the hands of the dark side. In hopes to save the world, Moiraine takes a group of five young people on a journey around the world, one of who might be the reincarnation of the reborn Dragon.
Review: Most of the recent big-budget, epic-scale medieval, sci-fi or fantasy shows have made an attempt to be the new Game of Thrones, but The Wheel of Time adds one more name to the mix. Based on book series by Robert Jordan is a high fantasy story filled with violent creatures and gruesome incidents, however, at the core, it is a tale close to the beloved Lord Of The Rings.
While Tolkien's stories follow simple creatures leading to a story about kind souls, The Wheel of Time is led by a powerful organization of women with magic that brings more blood in the first three episodes than the entire LOTR film adaptations has shown.
The show starts with Moiraine is on the search for someone who is the reincarnation of an ancient power called the Dragon with the ability to restore or destroy the world. But nobody knows what they look like except that they are around 20 years old. In finds her possibly heroes in a small town called Two Rivers, which is taken over by the evil overnight, forcing them to leave their home without an explanation.
The makers reasonably have made some changes to the story from the books, not only have they aged the characters but also have one of them married. Its medieval world is packed with legends, vivid landscapes which are mesmerising to watch. The VFX is not perfect in every scene but it works with Rosamund Pike holding the audience's attention most of the time. With the heroes, the audience is also kept in the dark about everything including the world order. Meanwhile, the leading cast each have very little time to fish out their characters but already go through a bit of an internal journey in the first three episodes. While you easily connect with Rosamund Pike - who is a known face, it is hard to connect with any of the other leads without any traction.
On the other hand, the world is on the brink of apocalypse, but after a gruesome episode one, we hardly see any threat looming over the characters. Except for Rosamund who after leading the four is just carried around half dead. The picturesque locations are enough to pull one in, but the screenplay moves further away from the real threat with each episode and more characters and the world structure is introduced.
If the rest of the upcoming episodes can be held against the standard for the first episode with some amazing fight sequences and brutal and chaotic atmosphere the show can be redeemed in 60 minutes time.
Overall, The Wheel Of Time can make up for the last of fantasy releases, however, it may not measure up to the expectations of the readers and high-fantasy genre fans.
