In recent years, almost every major video game sagas has been adapted for film or television. In 2022, one of the most notorious series of this type was Halo, which seeks to tell the story of the Master Chief and the Spartans. Televisa fiction was not available on most streaming services in Spain, but now we can finally see it thanks to the arrival of SkyShowtime. Then you can read my review of the first two episodes of Halo:
Halo is a very irregular experience
First of all, I must point out that, although I really like the aesthetic of Halo and the characters in the franchise, I never fully played any of the games. That said, the first episodes of the series seemed good but not great. The introduction of television fiction brings us to a human colony hiding from the UNSC on the planet Madrigal. After seeing a few shots that put us in a situation, we listen to a conversation of a group of people who talk about the power difference between a marine and a spartan.
- Then we went out, following Kwan, the colony leader’s daughterwho goes to a nearby forest with his friends in search of a plant.
- As they walk around the area, are attacked by the Pactan alien faction that seems to want to exterminate them.
- After a few moments of confusion and a very unfavorable battle, it appears a ship from which 4 Spartans come out.
- We quickly recognize their leader as Master Chief thanks to the iconic armor.
And this is where the inconsistency of this series begins since, on the one hand, spartans look great but on the other hand, the Covenant is experiencing quality drops in action moments. This is something that happens several times throughout the two chapters; the camera shows us a scene or character done with great CGI, but when the action starts, the quality is lost.
- Continuing the plot, after quickly defeating the Elites who attacked the colony, the Spartans they enter the alien landing zone.
- There they find some kind of very advanced alien tool.
- In contact with this device, the Master Chief has a pair of flashbacks which seem to be memories of his past.
- From that moment, he rebelled against the superiors of the army and began to act alone.
The second episode builds on this base and we follow the master chef Already kwanwho escaped the army and they are investigating the artifact. After meeting an old friend and discovering that it is a tool that Commitment they have to use the old technology, John decides to go home and surrender.. Apparently he’s planning something and needs to meet his team, los Spartans Platarealize.
A beautiful scene
- The biggest point in favor of this series is its direction, which convincingly captures everything I’ve ever seen about the Halo universe.
- The fight scenes, although infrequent, have good choreography.
- Besides, alien CGI is usually pretty soliddespite the fact that its quality drops in some action moments.
- Without a doubt, the best part is the Spartans, whose armor and movements are very beautiful and fluid.
That said, it’s true that I lacked a little more inventiveness when designing weapons, since often we see quite common submachine guns. It is true that aliens they use some kind of plasma swords, but they appear very little in these two episodes. Finally, the sound design of the shots can also be somewhat improved, since, when the elites are hit it sounds pretty bad and looks like they are being hit with pellets.
Generic sci-fi plot
One of the aspects where this adaptation is weakest is in its plot and characters. In the first place, the story focuses a lot on this kind of gear, a very powerful and mysterious artifact. By itself that’s not a problem, but it’s annoying that it still behaves in a convenient way for the plot. That is to say, it is necessary first that the master chef has its own will, so the artifact restores his memories. Later, they have to escape, so the craft emits a kind of electromagnetic field that prevents army machinery from working.
- It’s something that takes weight away from character decisionsbecause, in the end, they still have the element of surprise of the artifact.
- In my opinion, it would have been more interesting than the plot will explore Master Chief’s past.
- They could have found another reason behind his change in behavior that was more interesting.
The Mandalorian, but something worse
In general, my feeling watching Halo has been that it looks a lot like The Mandalorian. We are introduced a super soldier wearing iconic armor and what decides “betray” your code to save someone innocent. Moreover, there is an intergalactic war between two factions, one of which is a very powerful empire with very advanced technology.
- That being said, the main difference between the two is how they treat their characters.
- One of the best examples for you to understand what I mean is the helmets of the protagonists.
- In both cases, the armor of these individuals is a crucial part of their life that defines who they are.
- Therefore, in The Mandalorian We only see Mando’s face much earlier in the plot.
- In Halo, John takes off his helmet in the first chapter.
- This change may seem small, but completely breaks the image we have of the Spartans and the Master Chief.
Finally, I would also like to compare the companions of each of the protagonists, Grogu in the case of Mando and Kwan in the case of Master Chief. Without a doubt, despite the fact that he does not utter a word, little Yoda manages to transmit much more than his counterpart from Halo. Kwan is little more than a source of information on UNSC corruption. and it has little importance in the plot of these early episodes.
In conclusion, I think Halo is a series with a lot of potential due to the technical and visual section. Additionally, performance is generally good or fair at worst. The points where he suffers the most are its plot and its dialogues, which produce somewhat insipid characters. If you are a fan of the saga I think that you will like their action scenes and if you like science fiction, it can be a solid pick for the weekend.