Legion: A review of the Pilot Episode
A review with very minor spoilers
So last night was the premiere of the highly anticipated Legion television series on FX. As an X-Men fan the premise is fantastic, a story based on the life of the son of one of the most powerful telepaths in the Marvel Universe, this is a really fun idea. So with high expectations about the storyline I went ahead and dove right in:
The Good
The show firstly is a visual feast. The effects used in this episode are on par with Hollywood films. At times you need to play close attention to the plot line because of the various cinematic shots and twisted camera perspectives, it seem like the visuals are in the same trippy vein as Inception and Marvel’s Doctor Strange. The kinetic story-line is also very interesting as location shifts fast and furious, bouncing from one timeline to another and back again, and into Legion a.k.a David Haller’s mind. This is a television show that demands one’s full attention.
The show’s cast is a highly talented one, David Haller being played by Dan Stevens of Downtown Abbey fame. He does a great job selling to us the fact that he is nothing more than a mentally disturbed young man, who does not understand that his troubles are linked to mutant powers. He comes off as a likable character who is lost in a world of his own, and in this episode he is pining for the love and affection of another a woman named Syd (who does not like to be touched). Aubrey Plaza also does a good job as his friend Lenny who seems to be there for moral support and the one true friend he has at the moment.
The Bad
While there were many positive elements in the first episode that featured compelling visual with very good acting, there were also a few downsides to the episode as well. Legion is a very heady show, and at times despite the visual feast dancing before one’s eyes, the episode feels like it is dragging and not moving the story forward very quickly. Hopefully, this is just an element of the season premiere, and it is corrected in future episodes of the show. Also while the show makes a few attempts at humor now and then it really cold use more of an injection when it comes to humor. Show this heady (especially because of its 10 pm time slot) requires a nice dose of comic relief to keep the audience interested, hopefully this is something that the show will correct in future episodes.
The Verdict
Legion is a television show with a lot of promise and as an X-Men fanatic this show is one that holds a lot of interest for me. One particularly interesting sequences is “The Demon with the yellow eyes” From the quick psychedelic flashes it seems that it is a visual representation of infamous X-Men villain Mojo? Now this is only a theory at the moment as there is no confirmation at all from anyone that they intend to include Mojo in the series, but since this an X-Men related series it would make it entertaining if they are to make that leap in future episodes. Overall, this is a very fascinating show, a visual feast for all the senses and any show that deals with the X-Men universe in my book is a winner, hopefully the show can pick up steam and fix some of the flaws of the pilot. But overall a very it is off to a good start.