This should be a good TV show... A story about an ancient, mythical city should be fairly easy to make interesting, with plenty of scope for solid characterisations, sub-plots, adventures and twists.
Unfortunately Atlantis fails to deliver on all fronts. In fact it doesn't even turn up.
The first ten minutes of the show rushes through what should normally take an entire episode - the result is that the viewer is left with the impression the scriptwriters do not actually want to tell the story or that they are too lazy to engage the viewer in any understanding the protagonist's character.
The dialogue is predictable and intellectually suited only to children. To anyone more mature it is an insult that the writers thought such banality would engage them. Clichéd and unimaginative.
The acting is distinctly average but then again the cast doesn't have much to work with. When the script is amateur the acting can only follow suit.
Mythology is unashamedly violated with heavyweight Greek characters coming out of the woodwork and wasted with stupid, stereotypical idiosyncrasies which dumb down these hero's actual contributions to history or culture. We've got a gambling, drunk Hercules and a triangle obsessed Pythagoras. Wow, good work guys! Just look at these goons and tell me you can take them seriously - http://static.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AtlantisFeat.jpg
You can forget everything the books told you about Greek mythology because this show doesn't give a flying ****. It seems Homer, Plutarch and Pausanias' versions were simply not good enough for the writers.
If you are looking for the next "Game of Thrones", "The Borgias" or "Spartacus", you are in for a shocking disappointment. There is plenty of good TV out there - don't waste your time with this festering pile of nonsense unless you have 1 hour to kill and learn how NOT to do a TV series.
Unfortunately Atlantis fails to deliver on all fronts. In fact it doesn't even turn up.
The first ten minutes of the show rushes through what should normally take an entire episode - the result is that the viewer is left with the impression the scriptwriters do not actually want to tell the story or that they are too lazy to engage the viewer in any understanding the protagonist's character.
The dialogue is predictable and intellectually suited only to children. To anyone more mature it is an insult that the writers thought such banality would engage them. Clichéd and unimaginative.
The acting is distinctly average but then again the cast doesn't have much to work with. When the script is amateur the acting can only follow suit.
Mythology is unashamedly violated with heavyweight Greek characters coming out of the woodwork and wasted with stupid, stereotypical idiosyncrasies which dumb down these hero's actual contributions to history or culture. We've got a gambling, drunk Hercules and a triangle obsessed Pythagoras. Wow, good work guys! Just look at these goons and tell me you can take them seriously - http://static.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/AtlantisFeat.jpg
You can forget everything the books told you about Greek mythology because this show doesn't give a flying ****. It seems Homer, Plutarch and Pausanias' versions were simply not good enough for the writers.
If you are looking for the next "Game of Thrones", "The Borgias" or "Spartacus", you are in for a shocking disappointment. There is plenty of good TV out there - don't waste your time with this festering pile of nonsense unless you have 1 hour to kill and learn how NOT to do a TV series.