So, my husband and I have just recently finished watching BBC's The Adventures of Merlin, and, as promised, here is my review of the series! I usually review (and watch, come to think of it) movies as opposed to TV series, so we shall see how this fits into my review template! (I'm assuming nobody cares about spoilers, but...there are spoilers below.) Quality/Aesthetic/First Impressions:
Alright, here we go. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, and it is even on my (mental) list of things to re-watch. Although it is a bit dated as far as the sets, effects, etc., the medieval, fantasy/fairy-tale aesthetic is appealing to me, and I think that there is a bit of a Narnia-like feel to the show? If you have seen the Disney Prince Caspian and enjoyed the stylistic elements of that as far as the setting and magical-ness, then I think you would enjoy Merlin. In fact, I would even dare to say that this show is executed better than Prince Caspian in terms of where the original material and inspiration came from. Showing Merlin, the greatest wizard of all time, as a gangly, dorky young man is a great change, although I will forever love old, white-bearded Merlin. I really appreciated the different perspective on Prince/King Arthur and how he and Merlin were such good friends, even though it is quite different from the original lore, if you care about that sort of thing. But anyway, I felt like this was a fresh take on worn, overused characters.
Characters:
Speaking of characters, I absolutely LOVED most of them. I like how the writers managed to fit so many different types and characters into one show, and make them all work perfectly together. While some of the acting was not quite up to a feature film standard, most of the main characters' acting and portrayal was excellent. Colin Morgan did a fabulous job in the title role, managing to keep a consistent character throughout all five seasons. Arthur and Guinevere were great, too (my husband doesn't know what an OTP is, but they are his OTP). I found Morgana good at first, but I felt that her descent to the show's main villain got a little bit overplayed and predictable near the end. She started to seem like a broken record in her futile attempts to overtake Camelot, and was only refreshed once we had Mordred on her side. Overall, however, the characters were fun, had plenty of variation, and the writers managed to give us enough backstory without overdoing it. The knights of Camelot are the prime example of this -- each one has specific traits and a specific personality, and although they are still side characters, they have enough personality to seem like real people.
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King Arthur and the Camelot Knights, a.k.a. "Me and the Boys"
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Also I just found this character quiz and I thought I should share....let me know your results in the comments!!
Content:
This show, in my opinion, falls somewhere right between PG and PG-13. There is barely any language, and no vulgar profanity. There are quite a few shirtless men, so if that bothers you, I would stay away, but that is where Netflix gets its "nudity" rating from -- there is no actual nudity shown at any point. There is one scene where Arthur has no clothes, but it is played as a humorous scene, and nothing is shown. A lot of the women wear rather low-cut dresses, but nothing worse than Pride and Prejudice or BBC's other period dramas. Violence-wise, this is very close to the Narnia movies, although it is more suspenseful in certain episodes. There is also a lot of witchcraft and sorcery, with potions, spells, and, in a couple episodes, mandrake roots, which are something like voodoo dolls -- there are some weird moments with connections between the living and dead (ghosts or visions), so if you are sensitive to the portrayal of medieval witchcraft, I would stray away from this show.
Plot:
Like I said earlier, the take on Merlin and Arthur as young men is a refreshing change. I know that the show had different writers in different episodes, so it is not completely consistent, but overall, the general arc of the story is well-done and cohesive, which is impressive for a five-season TV show. I was also impressed by the amount of detail and attention to the plot was present from even the first few episodes -- everything was very obviously planned in a meticulous manner. The villains can get a little bit lame and predictable, I will admit...but the plot itself was intriguing and coherent.
Overall Impressions:
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| When people start talking about their coherent, well-plotted nightmares |
I would definitely watch this again. It was something that was fun, easy to follow, and engaging, with lots of fun characters, hilarious shenanigans to outweigh the dramatic and serious moments, and even decent acting! The good definitely outweighs the sometimes laughable special effects and less impressive moments. But can we all agree that the Great Dragon was THE WORST character, ever, in the history of mentor characters????
