Saturday, August 06, 2022

Booksteve Reviews: The Sandman

 

Just finished THE SANDMAN and I'll give the overall series a definite 4/5 stars. I truly believe that episode 6 was the single best and most accurate adaptation of a specific comic book story--two, actually--that I have ever seen!

Naysayers aside, the casting is flawless on every score with David Thewlis, John Cameron Mitchell, Mason Alexander Park, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, and Boyd Holbrook among the MANY standouts. Let me put it this way--there was no one who DIDN'T work for me. I did not even recognize old favorite (and longtime Gaiman-collaborator) Sir Lenny Henry as the the voice of one great character!

Tom Sturridge is appropriately stoic, deadpan, and morose as Dream, with a much less extreme hairstyle and no bleached-white skin being the main differences from the comics. His ocassioanl sorta-kinda smiles as he recognizes his own humanity more are priceless.

The overall series was more episodic than most binge-designed series are these days but the adaptation of The Doll's House--one of the most-revered SANDMAN stories was well-done and even added a few touches from other story arcs.

The final episode was basically just clearing up some loose ends and setting the stage for possible future episodes. Not sure it worked on its own as an episode, but a nice coda to a lovely adaptation of one of the greatest of all comic book series.

Dark fun on a couple of dark, stormy days here.

Thanks, Neil, for the quality control. And thanks to all involved for making the DREAM of a lot of fans come true after all these years. 

 

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