I avoided watching this series because it has such poor IMDB scores that are normally around the 5.0 mark. The other night though I was at a loss of what to watch, was kind of tired, and didn't really have anything else to do so I decided to watch it anyway. I expected it to absolutely suck based on the reviews but was quite surprised because I really like it and binge watch it every night.
It has great production value, good acting, and reasonably good special effects. Sure some of the scenes in space look a bit fake but they don't exactly have Rings of Power money to play around with here.
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There aren't many shows or movies that are based on video games that have done very well throughout history, so it shouldn't be that surprising that this one is getting thrashed on the review sites as well. I think I know why it is getting mostly negative reviews though and that is because of the fact that from what I have read, the story doesn't stick with the lore of the actual story.
I think this is why I enjoy it so much. I was aware of the popularity of the game when it was released on Xbox all those years ago, but I don't think I ever actually played it. Something else must have been going on in my life at the time and it just never occurred to me to ever get an Xbox. Until I spoke to a friend of mine I was unaware of the fact that there are a bunch of books about Halo as well. When he told me that he doesn't like the show because it doesn't match up with the lore I realized that this is the near 50% of people that have a problem with the show. It has to be!
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For me, a science fiction fan, the notion of having an elite group of super-soldiers that have been genetically modified to be basically unstoppable was a really fun notion. The idea of facing off against a rival alien species is nothing special and has been done a great many times, but this series focuses heavily on how the super soldiers called "Spartans" have been modified to the point where they don't even have feelings. They have a chip embedded in them that makes them execute orders without their own morality even coming into the picture.
This is evidenced in the very first episode where they invade a human settlement and exterminate everyone there despite the fact that they are on the same team.
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Because of their armor and their modified bodies, they are nearly completely unphased by weaponry that is used against them. They do one small portion that indicates that a certain number of hits in a row will take them down but as I presume it was in the game, all they have to do in that situation is seek cover for a little while and their armor powers back up. I never played the game so I have no idea if that is true but it does seem likely.
Other people in the comments didn't like what appeared to be "forced diversity" in the casting and I'll admit that this made me a bit annoyed as well but unfortunately that is just the world we live in today and I don't think the studios are going to stop doing this.
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Guess who the evil person is in this picture?
No offense to anyone out there of Indian descent or that lives in India, but I find the Indian accent very difficult to understand and had to turn on the subtitles during this one Admiral's scenes because I couldn't understand what she was saying even though it is in the same language that I speak.
I don't like forced diversity in shows and films either, but I was able to look past that because almost all of the rest of the show is pretty great.
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One character that I particularly like is a girl that is referred to simply as "Blessed One" because she has some sort of ability that made the aliens, called the "Covenant" want to take her in and raise her as a child. She is now part of their side and helps the aliens against the humans.
It is difficult to tell as the show carries on who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. It's not so cut and dry obvious as that and to me that makes a good show. If the only thing the "good guys" had to do was defeat the aliens then things get predictable and boring pretty quickly.
Should I watch it?
I think that if you are not some person who is super-dedicated to the actual lore surrounding the game and books that this series is named after and you are a fan of sci-fi like I am, that there is a very good chance that you are going to seriously enjoy this. It is action packed but also has some great acting in there as well. There are a few actors I could do without but for the most part everyone is perfect for their roles. It's not just a non-stop action replica of the game... it is so much more than that.
If them "not sticking to the source material" is going to piss you off, then you probably want to give this one a miss because according to the comments I have bothered to read, that is the number 1 thing that encourages reviewers out there to give this one bad marks. I love it... and look forward to continuing my journey into season 2 tonight!
There are a ton of ways to watch this show legally. It's basically on all of the providers. However, the new episodes appear on Paramount+ weeks before they move to the other providers