Sunday, January 14, 2018

Inhumans (ABC) (2017)



Spoilers

The Inhuman Royal Family fight their way back to the moon after being thrown out by one of their own. 

Overthrowing a government is easy to understand; there’s a problem and a goal. Lackluster delivery notwithstanding, it is Inhumans over Iron Fist for me for just having a simple problem and a goal. They are the two of Marvel's worst output to date, both for TV and both coming out just in 2017. Although generally critically Inhumans has been called worst of all

I know what Black Bolt wants in the series; I don’t know what Danny Rand wants over two series – Iron Fist and Defenders. Iron Fist as a show and as a character was just lost so I disagree.



Bad Visuals

For looking like it could not stand Medusa’s hair stood out upon the release of the teaser photos. It was a sign of visual inadequacies to come so why would anyone in Marvel even think of an iMax release.

The costumes uninteresting . Turn the story into a fantasy flick with castles and magic and the costumes will still work. Gorgon (Eme Ikwuakor) is wearing boots. Triton (Mike Moh) is a man in fish make-up.

Sets too are unimpressive. Only the outside walls of Atillan are seen. Callisto Aerospace, a private space agency, looks like it is working out of a warehouse – they have no rooms. And as far as powers are concerned only the teleporting dog was visually interesting.




Caste System

The execution of the caste system was problematic with Maximus, the mastermind of the palace coup.

Maximus (Iwan Rheon) is human. He may the king's brother but his lack of abilities have made him lesser in the eyes of his peers. 

Taking over the palace means he needs the support of a least a few of the higher cast who, assuming consistency, have no reason to respect him. He is as a lesser Inhuman who only remains high because of blood so inciting revolution from below should be equally problematic.


He has to pander to two two opposing sides. What is his motivation?  What motivates his followers? How does he maintain the takeover? The two sides have unrelated interests especially on the issue of strict social hierarchies.

If it was to destroy the caste system his followers, chief among them Auran (Sonya Balmores), have not shown enthusiasm in welcoming lower caste on equal terms. Why would privileged people surrender status anyway?

If it was the acquire territory then the numbers don’t support it. Atillan has only 1,400 Inhumans. While there are Inhumans on earth whom Maximus could, in theory, bring to his side the story never went in that direction. That would have been a nice invasion story if it did.

His contacts on Earth are connected to inhuman genetic research because his deepest desire was to become one with powers. He had no preparation for anything else – not SHIELD, not the Avengers, certainly not the billions already living on earth.

The weakest part of the coup story line is that Maximus was always trying to get the Genetics Council on his side.

When the Royal Family all ended up on Earth, instead of moving on with his agenda Maximus looks like he was scrambling for allies that he should have had before everything started in motion. 

His reign was a mess that I think it should have been a failed coup from the start.



Out of the Ivory Tower

On Earth, Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Gorgon, and Crystal see the world finally for what it is. Alien perspectives; their powers are under restraint; and most of all they’re not the royal family anymore. 

It was not the best delivery in the world but at least the story had a logical progression. As powerful as the higher ups are they may also be blind, now they can see. And it starts with now former subjects now being honest.

Medusa

The two opposing sides are brother against brother on paper. Maximus leads the coup and Black Bolt is the leader of those on the run. But Black Bolt is a nonspeaking role so in reality Medusa or rather Serinda Swan carried everything.

In exile she’s a wife separated from her husband, and back to translator again when they linked up. Medusa befriended Louise who was instrumental later on. She does all the talking when the royal family are finally together even if she speaks the King’s “words”.

Swan has to do a monologue and still try to make it appear as a convincing husband and wife repartee. She did a decent job despite difficulties. It was not the easiest role to play in the world. 



Black Bolt

You can love or hate Black Bolt, Anson Mount can’t do anything with him. What’s bad about the character is that he has everything too convenient on Earth. 

Keep in mind Black Bolt’s sign languages are not of earth standard. He’s reduced to simple gestures but that was good enough to get him fitted for a suit and avoid getting beaten up or shot at in an Earthly prison.

Black Bolt's greatest convenience is his wife; a question that lingered more than expected because someone thought a bed scene was a good idea. Is it possible to be married to someone who doesn't talk, grunt, moan, or groan of pleasure while having sex?

Comparatively I got more out of Stephen Hawking's break-up scene with his wife in The Theory of Everything than the entire series of Inhumans with Black Bolt. In bed - or not - there's nothing to watch out of Black Bolt.



Others of the Royal Family

Karnak has great arc considering that it is directly related to his power. The lesson he learns is something audiences can think of in their daily lives. 

He is the best fighter in the Royal Family but his penchant for expressing probabilities sucks the excitement out of a battle rather than add to it. Instead of a brilliant tactician or strategist, Karnak’s overall aura is that of an accountant.  

Medusa’s younger sister Crystal brings a youthful outlook in her first time on Earth but she is underutilized. It would have at least taken the load off of Swan if she and Isabelle Cornish were playing off each other while in exile. 

Although I understand Louise place as comic relief, I believe the younger sister introducing new things to the queen rather than the earth woman would have had more dramatic weight. 



Villains

Auran looks like an Executive Assistant. I can easily see her walking the daily corporate grind with her costume and her direct line to the boss.

Overall the crew hunting the royal family had nothing special looked like Auran. Nobody exuded a warrior vibe; they all looked so young. It makes wonder was casting done for the series or did they just promote everyone out of the assistant pool?

Lastly, no question Iwan Rheon he can be the bad guy but without any help from costume or special effects to exude an entirely different aura anyone watching him will only see Ramsey Bolton





MCU Inconsistencies

SHIELD introduced the concept of Inhumans in the MCU with Daisy Johnson refashioned as an Inhuman when in other incarnations she was mutant. There's even a season dedicated to Inhumans and this made the spy agency's absence loud as far as continuity is concerned.

Callisto Aerospace, the private space agency that looks like it is working in a warehouse made of plywood; through Louise they eventually link up with the Inhumans, all 1,400 of them – evacuated on Earth. The owner was never revealed, the relocation site too.

via GIPHY

Black Bolt tossing over a police car with barely a grunt should have caught the attention of the authorities but did not. 

1,400 alien and powered beings coming on earth and getting territory, albeit voluntary given by an unknown benefactor, is a security matter, and still it was all kept within the company. No mention of the Avengers, Tony Stark, or the Sokovia Accords.




Missed Opportunity or Bigger Problems

The Genetics Council mentioned in passing a threat looming in the horizon and only the King would have the power for the city’s defense. The story never elaborated on the threat and stuck to its guns with a theme of brother against brother.

An unknown third party would have spiced things up because with one side unable to speak, a conflict it was a hard sell. But then again it would have created more problems because a threat against Atillan is a threat against Earth especially since the Inhumans are now all on Earth.

Besides production and creative issues the failure of Inhumans may also mean that more and more it looks like that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting unmanageable. Remember that Inhumans has been a surrogate for Mutants




The question on every fans mind is how will Mutants and the X-men come in the universe? 

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