TV SHOW REVIEW - The Umbrella Academy: Season 1
By The Masked Medic
Netflix has long been known to pick up alternative comic books, video games or novels to create their TV series. This has led to some real successes such as “Stranger Things” and “A Series of Unfortunate Events” and so it should not have come as a surprise that when they created “The Umbrella Academy” my interest was piqued. After all, I’m a sucker for a good comic book series show!
Season 1 of Umbrella Academy tells the story of eccentric billionaire Reginald Hargreeves and how he comes to adopt 7 children from mothers who gave birth in a freak accident. Cut to modern-day and Hargreeves’ death brings about the reunion of his adopted children who have long since gone their own way. When one particular member of the team, ‘Number Five’ returns from the future after a freak accident, he is determined to stop the end of the world which he thinks is going to occur in a week’s time. Added to that mix is the fact Vanya, the one member of the team who has no powers, finds her life being turned upside down when suddenly everything begins to start going her way. Can this team of misfits band together to prevent the apocalypse? Well, obviously you have to watch to find out.
I have to say, that despite the fact that this show was recommended to me by a few of my friends, I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Despite the fact that it dips its metaphorical toes in the superhero genre, it exudes a chaotic energy more akin to “A Series of Unfortunate Events”. I thought that each episode hooked me a little more and that the side stories were not particularly boring.
A lot of the cast for this show was new to me. There were a few familiar faces such as Elliot Page and Tom Hooper, the latter of whom I had seen in Game of Thrones. Another surprise to the cast was Mary J. Blige who was so convincing in her role, that I didn’t even recognise her. I thought that some of the cast such as Robert Sheehan who plays Klaus did an excellent job, but for me, the standout performance was Aidan Gallagher as Number Five. I don’t want to ruin it for you guys but he has to play essentially a character within a character, and he does it so well.
As Netflix tends to have a larger budget these days for shows than a lot of the TV channels, I thought that the cinematography of the show was pretty good. There were most definitely moments that required CGI effects and I did not at any moment feel that their graphics were subpar. I know it’s an odd thing to mention but each episode would have a scene with the title of the show and they’d insert it in the coolest ways which I really liked. The music was pretty good as well.
Overall, I have to say that I liked this show a lot more than I thought I would. I think the acting is excellent, the plot is intriguing and the cliffhanger at the end of the first season means that I will most definitely be going back for more!
Rating:
Story: ★★★½
Acting: ★★★½
Filmography: ★★★½
Integral vs Filler Episodes: ★★★½
Enjoyability: ★★★½