The Man In The High Castle

I’ve just finished watching the second season of The Man In the High Castle, and WOW! what a fantastic conclusion to the season. I though the first season ended well but this one took it up a couple of notches.

This is a show that I’ve enjoyed a lot but I’ve not been rabid for it like I am with Sense8, Marvel’s Netflix series, and Orange Is The New Black. When I do start watching it through, I have trouble turning it off. It doesn’t seem to be trying to shook, or cause offence, it feels like it’s just trying to tell a story. Some shows I’ve watched leave me feeling like the creative team behind it or the studio or network are just trying to do something that infuriates the fans, and that really isn’t a good way to go in my opinion. The Man In The High Castle feels like it knows what it wants to say and it’s doing it very well.

I like the changes they’ve made from the book, I honestly don’t think a literal adaptation of the book would work in either TV or movie format. I’m not going to go into comparing the two, because they are different entities. I’m not someone that feels that a book or comic adaptation has to replicate everything in the source material, that is seriously not possible. With this adaptation I think they’ve stayed loyal to the heart of the book but opened it up to create a world that they can explore. With the second season they have really opened up what the world might have turned out to be like had Germany and Japan won the Second World War.

This story wouldn’t work without the right actors, and I think they got them. The core cast of Alexa Davalos, Rupert Evans, Luke Kleintank, DJ Qualls, Joel de la Fuente, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Brennan Brown, and Rufus Sewell are all fantastic. Each one plays their role in the show with a lot of depth and it’s hard taking your eyes off of them when they’re on screen. The rest of the cast all hold their own very well as well, which makes it all so much stronger.

I really hope we get a few more seasons of The Man In The High Castle. I haven’t heard much from the producers and so on from the show, so I don’t know if they’ve indicated a timespan they’ve got to get the story to its conclusion, but if they keep up this level of quality then I hope we get more and I’m eager to see where this journey takes us. Bravo Amazon for letting the all the people involved in this show getting it made and out there.

Movie Monday : Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Was I the only person who thought “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, Really?  But it worked well enough any how.  I enjoyed the film as a whole but it is not one that will leave a lasting impression.  Benjamin Walker was very good as Lincoln, although he did not look quite right as the older Lincoln (he does have a resemblance to Liam Neeson, who would have done a damn fine job as the older Lincoln) Rufus Sewell gives exactly what I expect of him which is a proper performance from him.  This is another feather in Dominic Cooper’s hat as well.  The first film that I saw him in was Mama Mia, but I did not really take much notice of him  It was his role in The History Boys that did catch my attention.  That’s a great film by the way 😉  I think it’s only a matter of time till he hits it big.  With further support from Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Anthony Mackie the cast is pretty strong and one that I enjoyed watching working together.

Basically the vampires use slaves for food and Lincoln obviously is not very happy about this and fights to give slaves freedom.  Before that he learns how to become a vampire hunter and falls in love and so on.

This is a good film, but it’s not the most memorable movie I’ve seen.  Would I buy it?  Yes, because the actors are really good in it, and there are a few memorable moments now that I come to think about it.  The horse stampede comes to mind 😀