One of the main reasons I review content made for the Marvel Cinematic Universe every May is consistency. As repetitive as the movies may get, one thing that's hard to deny is the level of consistency in the quality of their content. While all the movies might not be great to watch, a bad Marvel movie is still considered better than a mediocre movie from other studios. I'd rather watch Thor: The Dark World over Venom if given the option. The same, though, can't be said for their Television content. While Wandavision and Falcon and The Winter Soldier have been great starts for them on Disney+, and there are gems in the Netflix partnership like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, when it gets bad, it gets really bad. If you thought Iron Fist was a lousy show, allow me to introduce to you Inhumans, a show so bad I couldn't even get past the first episode out of eight. See why I did M.O.D.O.K. first?
First, to get some positives out of the way, I think the island shots of Hawaii are well done. For the most part, the costume design is fine, and the casting choices are solid for the roles. I also appreciate the changes made for Black Bolt; I think the use of Sign Language for him is an excellent idea. Unfortunately, though, that's pretty much where the positives end. If I were to describe my thoughts with the first episode, the episode meant to hook me in on the show's premise; it's boring. I was bored throughout the episode to the point that I would pause, change to a new tab and watch Youtube videos for a while to watch something entertaining, something lively. What doesn't help is the setting and the delivery of most lines. Attilan looks like a hodgepodge of sci-fi and the world's most boring prison in terms of architecture, thanks to it being nothing but grey building that feels like cinder-blocks with basic carvings on them for detail. At the same time, inside, it's more bland, monotone coloured rooms and hallways. As for the delivery, while the casting looks like solid representations of the characters from the comics thanks to good costume design, their direction isn't. The delivery of most lines in the script reminds me of the Star Wars prequels, along with moments of Man of Steel where it feels like the only emotion they can portray is bland stoicism. It's hard to get a reading on some scenes as a result because there was one moment when the Royal Family was having dinner, and one member tries to flirt with a waitress before going on for too long and (I think?) saying he'll kill her for some reason? Then when she walks away, he gets mad about it being his power? Was that meant to be funny? I don't even know what his power is yet!
However, the powers go into the most significant issue the show has. Like with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Inhumans was done on a T.V. show budget, but corners were cut to make it as cheap as possible to produce. Some establishing shots look awkward going from the actual camera to full CGI. Many of the powers are limited whenever possible (to the point where they cut off Medusa's hair, taking away her power entirely for the sake of not needing to animate her hair past episode 1 poorly). Without needing to go into more detail about the characters online, the only character after 30 minutes that I could get a feel for who he is and his powers is Lockjaw, a giant (poorly rendered) CGI dog that can teleport. Though not as accurate of a comparison as it would be if I had another show to compare it to, at least in the X-Men movies, I can get the basics of most characters down within a few minutes of their introduction, or at the very least by the end of the film. Their name, their powers, their personality. I can't even tell you the terms of the main cast in this show off the top of my head because of how uninteresting they are, and I can't even begin to describe most of their powers because of how reserved they are for the sake of the budget.
This show was green-lit was to try and improve the image of the Inhumans and have them replace the X-Men in the comic culture so that they don't need to promote characters Marvel didn't have the movie rights to. If this one episode is anything to go by, I wouldn't be surprised if people cared even less about the Inhumans after watching the show. Nothing about it feels like anyone genuinely wanted to work on the project, genuinely wanted to bring these characters to life. This show feels lifeless, soulless, brought into existence because of an awful business decision, and suffers as a result. If you can sit through more than one episode, great, good on you, but I couldn't do it. What a downer note to end on for MAYvel 2021... Loki looks interesting at least, and hopefully, this lockdown will lift so I can see Black Widow in cinemas.
