I just completed binge watching "Marvel's Inhumans" right after watching "Thor: Ragnok" the day before. I probably shouldn't have watched them so close together but the movie inspired me to do so. The connection, if you were wondering, is that each set of characters were created by Jack "King" Kirby. The movie had exciting visuals, loads of action, beautiful scenery, snappy dialog, and a rather complicated plot. The TV show was terribly lackluster and made on the cheap.I have been a fan of Jack Kirby's comic art since I was a teenager. I grew up with his inspirational drawings, bold lines, action oriented characters and kinetic energy of two-dimensional characters. He's called "King" for good reason: he created so many Marvel and some DC characters whose legacy lives on in today's movies. X-men, Thor, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, just to name a few.
Comic book movies are huge now because these characters are larger than life and tap into many archetypes of ancient storytellers. Since the Marvel movies are using the comics as creative content, Kirby's visuals spilled out, all over "Thor: Ragnok." There were many, specific references to the comics in the movie which had me very excited, on the edge of my seat. It was obvious that "Thor: Ragnok" spent a lot of research and money on the film. It was truly spectacular.
Now for contrast, "Marvel's Inhumans" screamed low budget TV show with little to connect it to the Kirby legacy. To start, the costumes were all wrong. Oh yeah, they were nice but not "fantastical" like Jack drew them, just ordinary. The TV characters looked like a "wanna-be" group of Kirby's characters. Black Bolt should have looked like the iron jawed, strong character as drawn in the comics. Instead, he looked and acted like a whimpering, weak, two-dimensional character. Medusa, who in the comics is big-boned, built athletically, is undernourished in the movie (but stern looking-oh my). Not only that but THEY CUT HER TRADEMARK HAIR after two episodes! WHAT? It was obvious to me that animating her hair throughout the series would have cost to much so they simply eliminated it as part of the plot. DAMN. How could you violate a character like that? The other characters were not very memorable.
The overall plot for this eight episodes series was weak. Take a group of characters, seperate them in a strange land, and spend the next few episodes trying in vain to regroup... oh, and all the while, a villain is trying to kill the leader of the group to appease another villain. Is that a simplistic plot or what? The writing was on a 4th grade level, like a Saturday morning serial? The dialog was full of inconsistencies as well, showing how fast this show was thrust together and how little the show producers cared.
I
f the "Inhumans" are to survive, the producers need to step it up a notch or two. Give them the plotlines they deserve, costumes that are accurate and dialog that is adult, not childish. As of April 16, 2018, the series has not been cancelled but I am not holding out on this one.
