what is going on to all my halo sci-fi fans out there welcome back to my channel movie files ellie
back again with a brand new tv review and today we're discussing the first two episodes of the
brand new paramount plus sci-fi series by the name of halo i did get the opportunity to check out the
first two episodes early and i'mma let you all know based on those first two episodes is this
series worth your time we're gonna break it all down here in this spoiler-free review but before
we do so check me out on all my other social media accounts if you're new to the channel
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a thumbs up but i'm gonna put that challenge out there to you all let's get this review to 100 plus
likes but also share the reviews to anyone and everyone you know that might be interested in this
series but more importantly let's talk some halo now i want to know from my super fans that have
played all the games read all the graphic novels but also my casual fans and also the people that
have never played or heard of halo what was your hype level based on that first trailer but more
importantly once you've seen the first episode what did you think not just your pros and cons
but just more thoughts on the direction the cinematography the score the visual effects
the performances is there enough meat on the bone to keep you intrigued with this series
let's talk about it all in the comment section so i think it's important for me to address up top
my fandom of halo now i'm gonna be honest with you all i've played the halo games particularly the
first two i'm more of a sony fan i've always had a playstation but it was like a six month window
when i bought an xbox i bought the first two halos i had fun with them played them didn't really
complete them i just dabbled in the world i was more if i'm being honest i'm more of a gears of
war fan and when we get that series oh yeah i'll be ready for that but i say all that to say this
this review is coming from a perspective of someone that's familiar with an ip a casual
fan of the ip but not a die hard fan i'm more of someone that's always keeping my eye and ears to
the ground to sci-fi movies and shows and action movies and shows so with that being said i will
not be an expert in presenting this review from a perspective of a die hard fan i'm just giving
you my thoughts as a casual fan as someone that loves sci-fi action and i'ma let you know if i
think this is worth your time in this review and i will be also mostly focusing on the first episode
because that's the on 24th of this month that's going to be the first episode being presented to
the mass audience and then episode two comes next week so i will touch on episode two no spoilers
i'm just gonna say if i thought it was good or bad and just a vague you know synopsis read or what
have you so that's how this review will go with that being said let's talk about episode one which
was titled contact and the synopsis reads in the year 2552 humans on the planet magical have gone
fighting for independence from earth but a fatal encounter with the alien covenant complicates
things now master chief john 117 and his super soldier spartans come to join the fight after the
battle master chief heads to his home planet of reach with a survivor and a mysterious object that
he discovered on their planet but a controversial order has john questioning his mission and himself
now again without diving into the spoilers just my thoughts on the first episode i think from
someone again from a casual perspective i believe this first episode does a really good job of being
very accessible for those that might not be too familiar with this video game or this ip at all
i think it does a good job of establishing the world the planet the politics the main players
and i think it has a really good pacing to it now getting more into the minutia of this first
episode without giving too much away as i read in synopsis we're we're going on this planet magical
and this is a planet filled of rebels people that aren't fans of the main people in charge which go
by the un sc and they are considered to be the bad guys they're they're not like the empire by any
means but they put out propaganda they control the food resources they are very controlling of the
situation and the people of magical aren't fans of that and there's a lot of other colonies that want
to rebel against this particular head of people in charge but in particularly we have this you
know when we're introduced to these interesting characters on this planet they give you the back
story they give you their perspective they talk about the halo or should say the spartans and how
the spartans are faster smarter stronger there is an understanding that there is a doctor that has
created this uh program the spartan program so it does a good job within the first five minutes of
like really kind of giving you the main beats but i think this part here is what's going to
have everyone excited and i think for myself this was the best element of the first two episodes
we get an action sequence and this action sequence to me let me know that this isn't a cheap show
i was very impressed by this action sequence without giving too much away we're introduced
to this threat at hand of the covenant and i will say the design the look i hope i really do
hope that they did a lot of practicality with the design of the aliens but if not they did a really
good job of really making you believe that these are actual aliens and design is incredible but
more importantly you know how i mentioned that i'm a fan of sci-fi but also a fan of action
the action was incredible and i was like i was very from the trailer i couldn't remember if i got
a vague i didn't know if i was like okay is this more of a you know teenage kid friendly show or
was it more adult you know violence and things of that nature well based on that fight sequence this
is definitely a more mature show when it comes to the action because within this first battle
heads limbs blood guts all that stuff is there and i am here for it because again i
love sci-fi i also love action you give me the best of both worlds and that first scene i'm
like oh my goodness it's okay this is a little bit more mature and i literally set up in my
chair after that sequence but again going into this action without saying who wins who loses
it was really cool to get the introduction of the spartans but more in particularly master chief and
i love how the first episode puts you in his shoes again for my video games fans you get the you see
him fighting and you see it from his perspective like you do in the video game that first person
action shooter we get a hint i won't say when and where and and how long it's in the show but you do
hear that original score that oh it's it's placed in there pretty perfectly but again i think the
highlight of this first episode is that action set piece it's bloody it's gory you feel bad for the
people like literally they're mowing down people left and right and there is a particular survivor
that comes with master chief after this battle and this is where we kind of once all the action the
cool the the candy and the you know all that stuff the fun stuff happens is the show good is it good
in its writing and its performances and this is where the character quan and we get master chief
this is where you get more of that human nature of the show right and without giving too much away
quan has you know her experience with the spartans and let's just say her experience with them isn't
good so she has a conversation with master chief and this is where you start to get into the mental
space of master chief and again knowing when i played the game i don't really remember diving
too deep into you knew he fought since he was a kid and whatnot but the first episode really kind
of dives deeper into his past and flashbacks and his perspective on what he's been trained to do
since he was a little kid and i kind of like how it dives into that aspect and i have to say from
a performance standpoint pablo shriver who i know from his time on orange is the new black i think
he does a really good job of playing this type of genetically created person who he's very kind of
he's not human in a sense of when you first meet him he's very robotic he's very about the mission
but once he encounters quan and her people and he comes across this relic that's where you can
see the performance you can kind of get a better understanding of master chief and they humanize
the character and i think that they did a good job in doing so now again not diving too deep as
episode two but you do get more of master chief for aka john you learn more about the character
and i will say it now this isn't a spoiler because this is public knowledge the creators of this show
let this be known the helmet comes off and more so in in the second episode than it does in the first
episode but the helmet is off and i and again i know for the video game fans they might not like
to hear that but i think the show gives you enough reasoning of why the helmet's off and it gives you
a reason why he does have the helmet but also let you know why he would you know take it off
uh and and the way the show handles that like this isn't the mandalorian by any means you know you
don't die if you do so but there is a it's a good it has a good enough reasoning for me being a you
know just someone that's watching this for the first time i'm like okay that's interesting how
and why he's doing what he's doing to can make this human connection to take off his helmet
to make that decision so i think that that will ruffle some feathers obviously but i think that
is enough meat there to explain why he's doing that in the particular moments when he does so
but again just overall speaking of this first episode again the action set piece is the thing
that i think a lot of people will be excited for i think that they the visual effects of
the covenant which was fantastic the actions bloody and very action you know the choreography
the the shooting the fighting all that stuff is really good but then when things start to slow
down i thought that the performances by kwan and john and the supporting cast intrigued me enough
to be interested in that second episode which again overall for me episode one was the strongest
out of the two and just briefly giving you all just a vague idea what to expect in episode two
based on what happens in episode one with john and quinn and this relic that he finds they are
seeking answers about why he is now having complicated feelings about his mission about
where he comes from but more importantly what is this relic and why is it important and why am i
able to have this certain connection with this relic that's all i say about the second episode
and i will say again i preferred episode one over two episode two really slows down in the action
department like there's really not a lot of action we get introduced to some of the more video game
heavy characters we learn more about the politics we also get another character a close friend
of master chief uh which you know maybe if we'll talk about that in the maybe episode two spoil the
breakdown but again episode two is not as action heavy but it slows things down and it really kind
of builds the world a little bit wider in regards to that stance but i personally preferred episode
one over two so overall again as far as the highlights for me visual effects were strong
the performances are pretty solid it gives me a good understanding of the world and the you know
the leaders and the rebels and all the different stuff there if i do have any criticism so far the
supporting secondary stories the you know the story c and d and e that really hasn't caught
too much of my interest right now i'm mostly focused on master chief his connection to this
relic and also the coven but i'm in the covenant but i'm not too intrigued with some of the other
major planet stuff going on with the unsc and also some family drama within there stuff so
some of that stuff really hasn't been the most interesting and when we were not focusing on
master chief i found this series to be a little bit of a bit of a lull but again more so based
on episode one than two there's enough meat there for me that makes me intrigued to watch
this series it's really kind of getting to the minutia of it all but i'm not there i wouldn't
say that there is anything that just blew me away that may be like oh this is a must-see series
but there wasn't anything that made me say oh no this is terrible don't watch this at all there's
enough there to make me intrigued to continue to watch the show which brings me to this question
based on my thoughts the first two episodes do you all and once you all see the first episode do you
want to have further conversations do you want to have a spoiler discussion on a week-to-week basis
let me know by liking and sharing and all that good stuff and also commenting your thoughts on
everything that i said in this review and your thoughts on the first episode in the comments
below there you have it ladies and gentlemen based on the first episodes i think this show is worth
looking into and when you do again just a friendly reminder to like share comment and subscribe to
the channel again thank you all for watching this review hope you're staying safe as you can see on
the screen now subscribe to my channel check out my other content we'll catch you on the next video
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