I know a lot of people on Reddit have a hate boner for Anthony Mackie because of Altered Carbon s2, and it had a pretty terrible teaser trailer, but I just spent my weekend watching the whole show and, to my surprise, I’ve had a lot of fun.
Now, don’t come looking for deep philosophical questions or high art, this is no HBO drama like the Last of Us. Twisted Metal (up to Black, never played that one or past it) has never really been about the world-building or story, it’s always been about the characters and cars, each with over the top nicknames and gimmicks.
If you can accept that and want a crazy road trip romp littered with violence, comedy, as well as some surprising chemistry and heart from the leads, Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz; or if you ever wanted to see the Twisted Metal mascot Sweet Tooth brought to life in the best way possible (an insane murderous clown that manages to separate himself from the Joker or Pennywise thanks to the surprisingly effective combo of Samoa Joe’s physicality and Will Arnett’s voice) then this show is for you.
I hope others had a good time, too, or will if they watch it after this. I’m sure some people hated it, but if you go in knowing what you’re watching, or have a fondness of the atmosphere of the original games, where it was violent but still funny and light, you can just strap in and enjoy the ride.
Yeah, this one surprised me with how fun it is. Also as an elder millenial, it hits all the nostalgia haaaaaard. Every episode there’s at least one song that puts a “I haven’t heard that in maybe a decade” kinda smile on my face.
Seems like a light but fun action series that’s not aggressively poorly written. Looking forward to finishing it.
My review was starting to get long so I’ll add this addendum down here. It starts as a good background show and then managed to rope me in over time as the main characters relationship improved and the various celebrity/character actor cameos started passing through, each using their brief time on the screen to perfection.
I’d say it was about episode 3 or 4 I think it started to look at my phone less.
I’ll be giving it a shot tomorrow. From what I’ve seen, it’s not the version I was hoping for, but am still hoping it’ll be fun.
Personally I was hoping for a dark r version that matches twisted metal black story and aesthetic.
I never played Black, so this was kind of the version I was hoping for.
This show does make me want to go back and play Twisted Metal Black though, and any others I’ve missed. Apparently there was one in 2012. I had no idea.
Twisted Metal Black was the peak of the series. The 2012 reboot was pretty bad.
The TV series could have borrowed from the games a little more and explored the history of a character per episode and kept the arena based content.
The invented post-apocalyptic world and “milkman” plot goes against what the original games was about. Sadly the series will be left as a one season wonder.
i thought the dialog was weak, some funny one liners, Sweet Tooth and Stu carried the show, Not Anthony Mackies best role.
Wait, its actually based on the game?
Yep, it is!
Yup! It’s television so they obviously didn’t have the budget to do crazy car combat every episode, but the episodes they do have it it’s pretty sweet. They make up for it by littering references about the game everywhere, having not bad hand-to-hand action, and having an appropriate finale.
Extra question for those who played the game : What was your favorite character?
Mine was always Outlaw. I liked his special of tazering everyone around him and then lifting them up in the air in the earlier games.
I was also a big fan of Hammerhead, Mr. Slam, Twister, Grasshopper, and Spectre (I had a lot of favorite characters).
I also liked the idea of the characters of Mr. Grimm, Shadow, Roadkill, Warthog, and Sweet Tooth. I liked their designs, I just didn’t play them as much.
Depends on the game.
Twisted Metal 1 it has to be Spectre.
In the second game I like Shadow.
Twisted Metal Black has to be Brimestone.
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To promote a TV show on Lemmy? I don’t think that much.
I really, really enjoyed the show, as did my wife. She has never played the game or anything close to it (closest is probably Mario kart). I was big into vigilante 8 and played a few of the TM games at friends houses but never owned a PS myself.
