Halo the Live Action series: Reviews, reviews... The first feedback from the press

news culture Halo the Live Action series: Reviews, reviews… The first feedback from the press

Published on 03/25/2022 at 16:04

March 24, 2022 is a big day for fans of the Halo license who can finally discover the eponymous live action series. The American press had the opportunity to see the first two episodes of the series and to give their first feedback. It remains to be seen whether the Master Chief was able to convince or not.

Summary

What is the Halo series?
What do the press think of the first episodes of the Halo series?
What are the first press notes for the Halo series?

Table of Contents

What is the Halo series?

Halo is originally a series of video games born in 2001 on Xbox and developed by Bungie (Destiny). In its time, the first episode revolutionized the FPS genre on home consoles and became the flagship of the Xbox. The game immerses you in a futuristic universe where a war between humans and aliens is raging. You play as the Spartan John-117, an experimental soldier armed to the teeth who has undergone genetic modification. Over the years, the Halo franchise becomes one of the references in the science fiction world. After many games and many audiovisual and literary adaptations, whether it’s an animated series, comics and novels, the title is available this time in a Live Action series.

This series in real shots is not a direct adaptation of a video game opus, but takes up canonical elements of the universe. The Halo series plunges us into a distant future, half a millennium after our era. In the 26th century, humanity made an encounter of the third type which was to change the course of its history. Shortly after, the Men go to war against a theocratic alien alliance called the Covenant. During this conflict, we follow the Spartan John-117 (Pablo Schreiber), humanity’s last hope. This superhuman soldier has Cortona (Jen Taylor), an artificial intelligence companion who helps and guides him on the battlefield. The series reveals the origins of the struggle between humans and covenants, but also the personal story of the one who will later be nicknamed Master Chief.

What do the press think of the first episodes of the Halo series?

The first feedback from the press is already available on Metacritic. The acting performance offered by Pablo Schreiber really gives body and soul to the character of John-117, despite being a one-dimensional video game hero. Although physically imposing and stoic in appearance, this more human approach makes the protagonist approachable and interesting. The relationship between the hero and Kwan Ha Boo (played by Yerin Ha), his sidekick, is another strong point of the series often highlighted. To conclude on the qualities of the series, it is necessary to talk about the substantial budget from which it benefited. The series thus offers superb action scenes, in particular thanks to high-level special effects, which highlight the SF context of this galactic war.

As for the negatives, the critics report a very opaque and chaotic universe. Lack of knowledge of the video game saga is a hindrance to the discovery of the universe. The scenario of the first two episodes completely escapes the uninitiated and quickly becomes hermetic. This elitist approach would make the series complicated to follow beyond the major action scenes that will appeal to fans of big shows. Eventually, the Halo series divides. Its Metacritic rating is therefore in the image of these first returns… average… i.e. 60%. The series not being visible in its entirety, even for the specialized press, this first opinion is to be taken with tweezers while waiting for the broadcast of the entirety of season 1.