The first couple episodes of Amazon Prime Original series "Hunters" really wowed me. I appreciated the mix of chilling, somber sobriety about the terrible deeds of the Holocaust (though the director went to some effort to create fictional Holocaust events in lieu of real historical ones) and the kind of funky elements of the over the top 70s America. I thought the mix was something never seen before, although the flavor of it was much like Tarantino films. I got "Inglorious Bastards" vibes several times.
While me enjoyment of these elements together persisted throughout several episodes, the grating personalities of several of the actors (why does Jonah curse so much? What's the deal with Joe? What does Roxy even do?) really started to wear me out, and much of the commercial-like inserts didn't do much for me at all. I questioned their humor as well as their content and their delivery. By some time it felt like I couldn't get behind the main characters or their mission anymore. There wasn't much attempt at nuance for the German side and it shouldn't have been ok for the deaths to happen as they did, either for the characters or for us as viewers. I wish there was more dialogue about it.
Unfortunately "Hunters" did feel like a transplant of 2020 values and liberal attitudes onto 1970s dressed characters. Because of this many character dynamics lost dramatic tension and resolved themselves too easily. Actually much of the series was resolved too easily. Jonah solves puzzles without any effort st exactly the right moment. Twists happen just when they need to in the season. People stay alive who probably shouldn't. Lots of plots folded like houses of cards.
Throughout all this though, Al Pacino was stellar. He brought a believability to his character and stabilized most of the others. I wish there was a stronger antagonist for him to play against.
The assassin for the Nazis named Travis was an interesting character. It also felt like he didn't have a proper rival. I wish he did.
Decent show. Good visuals. Good soundtrack. Questionable morals, inconsistent tone, too much cliche. Highly original, sometimes wonderfully dynamic but too much flatlining to be great. Such great materials and many very good attempts to use them, but not quite as well thematically polished as I wish it would be.
While me enjoyment of these elements together persisted throughout several episodes, the grating personalities of several of the actors (why does Jonah curse so much? What's the deal with Joe? What does Roxy even do?) really started to wear me out, and much of the commercial-like inserts didn't do much for me at all. I questioned their humor as well as their content and their delivery. By some time it felt like I couldn't get behind the main characters or their mission anymore. There wasn't much attempt at nuance for the German side and it shouldn't have been ok for the deaths to happen as they did, either for the characters or for us as viewers. I wish there was more dialogue about it.
Unfortunately "Hunters" did feel like a transplant of 2020 values and liberal attitudes onto 1970s dressed characters. Because of this many character dynamics lost dramatic tension and resolved themselves too easily. Actually much of the series was resolved too easily. Jonah solves puzzles without any effort st exactly the right moment. Twists happen just when they need to in the season. People stay alive who probably shouldn't. Lots of plots folded like houses of cards.
Throughout all this though, Al Pacino was stellar. He brought a believability to his character and stabilized most of the others. I wish there was a stronger antagonist for him to play against.
The assassin for the Nazis named Travis was an interesting character. It also felt like he didn't have a proper rival. I wish he did.
Decent show. Good visuals. Good soundtrack. Questionable morals, inconsistent tone, too much cliche. Highly original, sometimes wonderfully dynamic but too much flatlining to be great. Such great materials and many very good attempts to use them, but not quite as well thematically polished as I wish it would be.