Plot; In a small Indiana town, a young boy's disappearance and the mysterious events at a nearby laboratory set in motion two very different kinds of searches.
The almost deafening buzz surrounding this mid summer Netflix original series had sent my expectations soaring. So much so that I decided to let things cool off before starting it. Set in the 80s (1983 in fact) and looking for all the world like a hybrid of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King, it was as much in my wheelhouse as you could get. But did it live up to that insanely rabid hype? Against the odds it did. Mostly.
The line between inspired homage and cheap swindle is often razor thin, and Stranger Things never once dances close to the edge. Sure it evokes a sense of nostalgia in those, like my self, who were kids of the 80s, but it never ever feels like it's overtly mugging for the audience. There are nods and Easter eggs (like the four principles playing AD&D at the start ala E.T.--the movie the pilot episode most evokes), but it feels organic.
The adult actors, lead by a resurgent Wynona Ryder and a potential star making turn by David Harbour, are wonderful, but it's the young cast who truly shine. Never once feeling like anything but authentic kids and not adults in kids bodies parroting too-polished dialog, it's on their small shoulders that Stranger Things rests and they are more than up to the task.
I was aching for this to be as good as the hype, and I'm thrilled to say that for the most part, it is.
The almost deafening buzz surrounding this mid summer Netflix original series had sent my expectations soaring. So much so that I decided to let things cool off before starting it. Set in the 80s (1983 in fact) and looking for all the world like a hybrid of Steven Spielberg and Stephen King, it was as much in my wheelhouse as you could get. But did it live up to that insanely rabid hype? Against the odds it did. Mostly.
The line between inspired homage and cheap swindle is often razor thin, and Stranger Things never once dances close to the edge. Sure it evokes a sense of nostalgia in those, like my self, who were kids of the 80s, but it never ever feels like it's overtly mugging for the audience. There are nods and Easter eggs (like the four principles playing AD&D at the start ala E.T.--the movie the pilot episode most evokes), but it feels organic.
The adult actors, lead by a resurgent Wynona Ryder and a potential star making turn by David Harbour, are wonderful, but it's the young cast who truly shine. Never once feeling like anything but authentic kids and not adults in kids bodies parroting too-polished dialog, it's on their small shoulders that Stranger Things rests and they are more than up to the task.
I was aching for this to be as good as the hype, and I'm thrilled to say that for the most part, it is.