Julio Guadalupe

The opening big action scenes were incredible. The combat was well executed and the art style is terrific. If you are a fan of Halo’s creations in costume, vehicles and weapons you will appreciate Paramount’s execution on this. The original characters (Captain Keyes, Miranda Keyes, Dr. Halsey and Master Chief) are nearly unrecognizable. They are fraught with conflict and character flaws in the first minutes they are on screen. If you have played any of the games you’ll know these characters were pivotal to humanity’s defense because they ARE EXCEPTIONAL SOLDIERS. Not militaristic technocrats that murder without remorse. The scientists (Dr. Halsey and team) did develop Spartans under ethically dubious pretenses. I am happy to see a show approach this but they throw it at you so fast that you can’t get a grip on what is going on or who to cheer for. Maybe the Covenant? At least they have clear motivations and follow the Halo story arch. I stopped at 75% of the second episode and have decided to replay the games if I want to experience the incredible world of Halo. It seems clear that Paramount put people who wanted to make a “done-to-death” story about an imperfect hero and a political power struggle that is sprinkled with some alien combat. Halo is greater than that. It is about a boy, ripped away from his family, turned into a fierce weapon (partially flesh and partially machine) who rises above the unknowns and fear of his environment to defeat the enemy and save lives in the process. They gave us a Master Chief that was full of potential but was squandered to have helmetless “human” interactions and spend the start of the show impulsively chasing info on some Forerunner tech. Paramount pandered to a viewing demographic that doesn’t hold the same love for this franchise and I believe they will lose both fans and new viewers in this frantic rehashed story line that abandons the greatest attributes of the characters it fails to recreate.