In recent years, almost all the great video game sagas have been adapted to 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 have to clarify that, although I really like the aesthetics of Halo and the characters of the franchise, I have never fully played one of the games. That being said, the first episodes of the series have seemed good but not great. The introduction of television fiction leads us to a human colony hiding from the UNSC on the planet Madrigal. After seeing a couple of 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 outside, following Kwan, the daughter of the colony leaderwho goes into a nearby forest with his friends in search of a plant.🌱
- As they wander around the area, are attacked by the Covenantan alien faction that seems to want to exterminate them.❗
- After a few moments of confusion and a very unfavorable battle, he appears a ship from which 4 Spartans come out.⚡
- We quickly recognize their leader as Master Chief thanks to the emblematic armor.🔥
And this is where the inconsistency of this series begins, since, on the one hand, the spartans look great but, on the other hand, the Covenant suffer quality drops in moments of action. This is something that happens several times throughout the two chapters; the camera shows us a stage or character done with very successful CGI, but when the action begins the quality is lost.
- Continuing with the plot, after quickly defeating the elites who attacked the colony, the spartans they enter the landing zone of the aliens.✅
- There they find a kind of highly advanced alien tool.❓
- Upon contact with this device, the Master Chief has a pair of flashbacks that seem to be memories of his past.⚡
- From that moment on, he rebelled against the superiors of the army and began to act on his own.❗
The second episode builds on this foundation and we follow the Master Chief already kwanwho have escaped from the military and they are investigating the artifact. After meeting an old friend and discovering that it is a tool that Covenant they need to use old technology, John decides to go back and turn himself in.. Apparently, he is planning something and needs to meet with his team, the silver spartansto carry out.
A great staging
- The greatest point in favor of this series is its staging, which convincingly captures everything I’ve already seen about the Halo universe.⚡
- The combat scenes, although infrequent, have good choreography.✅
- Besides, the CGI of the aliens is usually pretty soliddespite the fact that its quality drops in some moments of action.❗
- Without a doubt, the best part is the Spartans, whose armor and movements are very beautiful and fluid.🔥
That said, it is true that I have missed a little more inventiveness when designing the weapons, since many times we see quite common submachine guns. It is true that the aliens they use a kind of plasma swords, but they appear quite little in these two episodes. Finally, the sound design for 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 science fiction plot
One of the aspects where this adaptation is weakest is in its plot and characters. First of all, the story focuses a lot on this kind of contraption, an artifact that is very powerful and mysterious. In itself, this is not a problem, but it is annoying that it always behaves in a convenient way for the plot. That is, at first it is necessary that the Master Chief has its own will, so the artifact restores his memories. Later they need to escape, so the contraption emits a kind of electromagnetic field that causes army machines to stop working.
- This is something that takes weight away from character decisionssince, at the end of the day, they always have the element of surprise of the artifact.❌
- In my opinion, it would have been more interesting than the plot will explore the past of Master Chief.✅
- They could have found another reason behind his behavior change that was more interesting.❓
The Mandalorian, but something worse
In general, my feeling when watching Halo It has been that it looks a lot like The Mandalorian. We are introduced to a super soldier wearing iconic armor and what decides “betray” your code to save someone innocent. Also, 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 the way 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 lives that defines who they are.⚡
- Therefore, in The Mandalorian We don’t see Mando’s face until well into the plot.❓
- In Halo, John removes 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 say 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 hardly any importance in the plot of these first episodes.
In conclusion, I think that Halo is a series with a lot of potential due to the technical and visual section. In addition, the performances are usually good or correct at worst. The points where he suffers the most are its plot and 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 just like science fiction it can be a solid choice for weekend viewing.