Games of Thrones 1x01 review
Apr. 19th, 2011 12:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ishtar79I haven't read the books in a while, so I'm attempting a reread as I watch, but I'll keep book spoilers off the tv show reviews. Having said that, I was impressed by how faithful to the books the show was. It remains to be seen if this accuracy will work in the long-term, and whether they'll do the next books as well.
No complaint in terms of sets: the show did a brilliant job of bringing Martin's world to life, and Winterfell in particular was exactly like I'd imagined.
The characters are all aged up, but I suppose that was inevitable for a TV version to work. Bran's role is too complex to be carried by a seven-year-old and filming some of Daenarys' scenes with a forteen-year-old would have been...odd, to say the least. Still, the adult characters were significantly older than in the books, so it took me a while to adjust.
Since there were about a billion characters (for those unfamiliar with the books, trust me, this won't seem as big an exageration later on), I'm dividing my comments by houses/locations.
The Wall: That opening scene was basically the stuff nightmares were made of. And I see we're in for a long season of the camera lingering lovingly on severed heads and disemboweled bodies. Lovely.
The Starks: So far my onscreen favourites are the same as my book favourites. Sean Bean was, of course, awesome as Ned Stark, but given that he's Sean freakin Bean, no surprises there. But seriously, he brought such gravitas, depth and thoughtfulness to the role, and I may never tire of him saying “winter is coming”.
I'm still neutral on Catelyn, but that could be due to the fact that her role at this stage seems to be to look at turns supportive and worried (with bonus glaring at Jon Snow).
Sansa didn't have that much to do in this one, but she wasn't really on my radar in the opening chapters of Game Of Thrones either. I suspect the actress will be more than up to the challenges thrown her way later though.
ARYA! <333333 I have no comments there, she was simply perfection.
I pretty much wanted to hug little Bran in every scene he was in, and the actor did a great job at conveying so much in the scenes he was in. My heart pretty much stopped his daredevilish climbing, even before that final scene.
Jon was 200% more watchable once he lost that sad little attempt at a beard. His budding manpain might get old fast, so I hope they use his bastardangst sparingly. I couldn't help but squee when he found Ghost (even though those pups were the least direwolfy-looking things ever).
Robb was...there, I suppose. Heh, this is exactly like the books for me!
The Lannisters:
Tyrion was just fantastic, there are no two ways about it. He's one of the characters I'd really hoped they got right, and the actor did a brilliant job at conveying the intelligence, self-deprecation and deviousness in the few scenes he had. Also, for some reason the scene with him, Jamie and the assorted prostitutes was a lot less gross than it could have been, partly because of the actor playing it in a very “kid in candystore” way.
Mad props to whoever cast Lena Hadey as Cersei. I never found book!Cersei sympathetic in the least because of....well, you know, but I couldn't help but admire her flair. Lena's Cersei is still the HBIC with a double dose of EVIL, but I couldn't help but be drawn to her POV at times.
The actor playing Jamie is not as pretty as I imagined book!Jamie, but he more than made up for it by oozing charm and embodying the essence of obnoxious, immoral prick.
Joffrey was every bit the repulsive little shit I imagined him as. I still can't get over Sansa making eyes at him-seriously, Sansa, “handsome”? Do you need glasses girl?
The Targaryens: When I saw the trailers, I wasn't too impressed with the white blond hair/darker eyebrows combo Daenarys had going, but it's not as bad as it looked at first glance. I always had trouble warming up to Daenarys in the books, but the actress brought a vulnerability to the role that made her infinitely more relatable.
Major props to them making Viserys as disturbing and loathsome as he was in the books. The actor was rocking the perfect combination of sleazy with an undertone of manic violence, and the scene were he was feeling up his sister like a piece of meat was perfectly shudder-inducing.
So actor playing Drogo is apparently the draw for many SGA fans. He's ...pleasantly strapping, isn't he? Also, for a supposedly primitive people, the Dothraki sure seem to love their dental hygiene and eyeshadow.
No complaint in terms of sets: the show did a brilliant job of bringing Martin's world to life, and Winterfell in particular was exactly like I'd imagined.
The characters are all aged up, but I suppose that was inevitable for a TV version to work. Bran's role is too complex to be carried by a seven-year-old and filming some of Daenarys' scenes with a forteen-year-old would have been...odd, to say the least. Still, the adult characters were significantly older than in the books, so it took me a while to adjust.
Since there were about a billion characters (for those unfamiliar with the books, trust me, this won't seem as big an exageration later on), I'm dividing my comments by houses/locations.
The Wall: That opening scene was basically the stuff nightmares were made of. And I see we're in for a long season of the camera lingering lovingly on severed heads and disemboweled bodies. Lovely.
The Starks: So far my onscreen favourites are the same as my book favourites. Sean Bean was, of course, awesome as Ned Stark, but given that he's Sean freakin Bean, no surprises there. But seriously, he brought such gravitas, depth and thoughtfulness to the role, and I may never tire of him saying “winter is coming”.
I'm still neutral on Catelyn, but that could be due to the fact that her role at this stage seems to be to look at turns supportive and worried (with bonus glaring at Jon Snow).
Sansa didn't have that much to do in this one, but she wasn't really on my radar in the opening chapters of Game Of Thrones either. I suspect the actress will be more than up to the challenges thrown her way later though.
ARYA! <333333 I have no comments there, she was simply perfection.
I pretty much wanted to hug little Bran in every scene he was in, and the actor did a great job at conveying so much in the scenes he was in. My heart pretty much stopped his daredevilish climbing, even before that final scene.
Jon was 200% more watchable once he lost that sad little attempt at a beard. His budding manpain might get old fast, so I hope they use his bastardangst sparingly. I couldn't help but squee when he found Ghost (even though those pups were the least direwolfy-looking things ever).
Robb was...there, I suppose. Heh, this is exactly like the books for me!
The Lannisters:
Tyrion was just fantastic, there are no two ways about it. He's one of the characters I'd really hoped they got right, and the actor did a brilliant job at conveying the intelligence, self-deprecation and deviousness in the few scenes he had. Also, for some reason the scene with him, Jamie and the assorted prostitutes was a lot less gross than it could have been, partly because of the actor playing it in a very “kid in candystore” way.
Mad props to whoever cast Lena Hadey as Cersei. I never found book!Cersei sympathetic in the least because of....well, you know, but I couldn't help but admire her flair. Lena's Cersei is still the HBIC with a double dose of EVIL, but I couldn't help but be drawn to her POV at times.
The actor playing Jamie is not as pretty as I imagined book!Jamie, but he more than made up for it by oozing charm and embodying the essence of obnoxious, immoral prick.
Joffrey was every bit the repulsive little shit I imagined him as. I still can't get over Sansa making eyes at him-seriously, Sansa, “handsome”? Do you need glasses girl?
The Targaryens: When I saw the trailers, I wasn't too impressed with the white blond hair/darker eyebrows combo Daenarys had going, but it's not as bad as it looked at first glance. I always had trouble warming up to Daenarys in the books, but the actress brought a vulnerability to the role that made her infinitely more relatable.
Major props to them making Viserys as disturbing and loathsome as he was in the books. The actor was rocking the perfect combination of sleazy with an undertone of manic violence, and the scene were he was feeling up his sister like a piece of meat was perfectly shudder-inducing.
So actor playing Drogo is apparently the draw for many SGA fans. He's ...pleasantly strapping, isn't he? Also, for a supposedly primitive people, the Dothraki sure seem to love their dental hygiene and eyeshadow.
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no subject
Date: 2011-04-19 06:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-19 08:59 pm (UTC)I suspect that's what Draco Malfoy looks like in JKR's head.
But not in OURS! :)
But yeah, such a horrid little ass. I get violent urges whenever he's onscreen, and he hasn't DONE anything yet.