REVIEW #127 The Wheel of Time (Season 1)

The Wheel of Time is the latest Amazon original series based on the fantasy novels of the same name. Set in a world where magic exists but only some can access it, a women named Moiraine comes across 5 young men and women as she attempts to find the dragon reborn. A mystical being who in the right hands can defeat the dark one but in the wrong hands can help him return to the earth. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

Rosamund Pike leads the cast as Moiraine and she actually takes to the role really well. The character is actually quite a complex one whose emotional complexities effects her relationships with the other characters in the series. This means that there are many different versions of Moiraine that the audience gets to see and Pike portrays those complexities nicely and creates a really interesting character. Daniel Henney portrays her ward, Lan Mandragoran and the best part of his performance is his action choreography, that’s not to take anything away from the rest of his performance because that was good too, but his action sequences were so exciting to watch. The group of 5 friends who Moiraine takes under her wing are made up of; Madeleine Madden who plays Egwene, Zöe Robbins who plays Nynaeve, Josha Stradowski who plays Rand, Marcus Rutherford who plays Perrin and lastly Barney Harris who plays Mat. The actors all seem to have good chemistry which creates a strong bond between the 5 characters. For young and relatively inexperienced actors they perform well, displaying emotion convincingly and they get the audience invested into their characters.  

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

The fantasy storyline is certainly what drew me into The Wheel of Time, it’s something that I enjoy watching and in that aspect, it didn’t disappoint. Dark forces are beginning to form all over this magical world, signalling the rise of the Dark one. Every time this occurs the dragon reborn always reincarnates, someone who can either defeat the dark one or help him return. Moraine leads the hunt for the dragon reborn and she comes across 5 potential candidates, all friends from the same town. They then go on a journey to try and stop the rise of the dark one. 

I certainly enjoyed the concept of how magic is used and by whom it is used by, it is explained well and creates a variety of different characters that can wield it at certain levels. I did find the idea of the dark one rising a little cheesy and it’s something that we have seen so many times before in different versions over the years. However the other unique elements help make up for that. I liked how close the group of 5 friends were, we got to see glimpses of their upbringing which helped provide the necessary context to their character. Considering there are really 6/7 lead roles the series does well to explore each one and establishes some strong character development over the 8 episodes. The ending was rather anti climatic and I felt that it was just too easy for them in the end, they did set up a season 2 so I assume there’s much more to it but for such a strong build up the ending was a little disappointing.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

This category was definitely a strong point for The Wheel of Time, the use of magic is illustrated beautifully and it looks really elegant on screen. From what I could tell it looks like some of the creatures were made from prosthetics and some from CGI, the prosthetics looked really good and for the most part so did the CGI. However there are some moments where the quality looks a little off, but as I’ve mentioned in reviews for a few other series, this is often the case in the opening season of a new show so I expect it to improve in season 2. The action sequences were also captured well, one example of great effects, cinematography and camera work was the fantastic battle at the end of the first episode. That first battle we see was so impressive and combined all the elements of cinematography to create a really good scene. There are plenty of locations used which help create some nice visuals and it emphasised the scope of this magical world and that has me excited about what we will see in future seasons. So overall some impressive cinematography and special effects in amazons Wheel of Time!

OVERALL (7.8/10)

I really enjoyed The Wheel of Time and I think it’s got off to a great start, the acting was good and the storyline is something I always seem to enjoy. The concept of the dark one is a little cheesy and as I’ve mentioned it’s something we’ve seen so many times before but there are plenty of other unique elements to the storyline for viewers to enjoy. The cinematography and effects were great and it created some really nice visuals that illustrated this magical world in which the series is set. The way the magic was portrayed was elegant and the series kicked off with a fantastic battle sequence at the end of the first episode, which set an exciting tone for the remaining 7 episodes. If you’re into fantasy projects then this is something you will definitely enjoy but if that’s not something you usually go for then maybe you won’t enjoy it as much as I did. 

Thanks for reading.

Callan