Inhumans beats Iron Fist in being Marvel's worst television series by far [Review]

Published: 
By Jamie Lam
Listen to this article

If you thought Iron Fist was bad – you’re right. But this is worse

By Jamie Lam |
Published: 
Comment

Latest Articles

Australia’s ‘earless dragon’ faces extinction due to climate change

WHO Europe report says 16% of all adolescents were cyberbullied in 2022

Hong Kong’s MTR Corp to hike ticket prices by 3% this year

Conflict through a writer’s eyes: 5 books set during war

Hong Kong’s Central harbourfront gets splash of colour for ‘Art March’

Hong Kong household happiness at lowest in six years

This is the only way someone gets me to continuing watching Inhumans.

The main character in Inhumans doesn’t speak. That’s appropriate given the fact that the chemistry between the cast members in this Marvel, ABC, and IMAX joint venture doesn’t exist, the dialogue doesn’t work, and the whole thing doesn’t entertain. 

Inhumans tells the story of the royal family of beings with superpowers who rule the city of Attilan, a refuge for the Inhumans race located on the moon. (Yes, bear with us.) Their benevolent rulers are Black Bolt (Anson Mount) who must not speak as his voice produces massively powerful shockwaves, and his wife Medusa (Serinda Swan) who can use her long flowing hair as a weapon. When Black Bolt’s jealous and superpower-free brother Maximus (Iwan Rheon) stages a coup to take over as king, the royal couple and their loyal retainers must regroup on Earth before taking the fight back to their home. 

The acting in general is below average. Mounts character can only emote using nonverbal means, but the actor basically has two facial expressions: loving gaze when staring into his wife’s eyes, and roguish bemusement at Earth’s “foreign” quirks. For example, clothing that isn’t made of skin-tight leather.

But even Mount’s performance is Oscar-worthy compared to Rheon’s over-the-top and uncharismatic turn as traitor Maximus. His cringe-inducing attempts at being intimidating aren’t helped by the horrible writing, and he’s routinely forced to say lines like, “Are you going to kill your only brother?” with a straight face. For Rheon's finest baddie performance, just re-watch Game of Thrones seasons three to six.

The rest of the cast is fairly forgettable, although you can see they are trying. Karnak (veteran actor Ken Leung) has a few good one-liners, but that’s about it. The action sequences are much worse than the usual Marvel TV standard. The music tries to overcompensate for the bad pacing, and becomes too noticeable.   

One saving grace is the grand scale of things captured on IMAX cameras. Inhumans is the first television series to be partly filmed using IMAX technology, and the craters of Hawaii are awe-inspiring on the two-storey screen. Sadly, as the rest of the shows will not be released in cinemas (only the first two episodes are. It's confusing, right? It's okay, here's something to explain it), watching on home screens means you won’t be able to enjoy the eye-candy as much. 

Ironically, the best thing about Inhumans isn’t even remotely human. Lockjaw, the teleporting, car-sized, goofball of a dog is very cute. But he has no lines, is computer-generated, and only on screen for a few seconds. What a shame. All-in-all, it’s recommended Marvel fans skip this mess and just wait for Daredevil season three.

 

Sign up for the YP Teachers Newsletter
Get updates for teachers sent directly to your inbox
By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Comment