Inhumans Premiere Recap: “Behold…The Inhumans”
Inhumans debuted to terrible critical reviews and limited IMAX ticket sales despite the Marvel touting this show as epic adventure series.
“Behold…The Inhumans,” only confirms the negative reactions to the series with a clunky pilot that finds little to like about the show. Poor acting, story-telling, and design erase any potential the series might have had before the premiere. With so many other great superhero television shows out there, like Agents of Shield or Jessica Jones, Inhumans definitely doesn’t make a good argument as to why it exists.
The main problem that “Behold…The Inhumans,” faces is establishing the entire world of Attilan. Fans of the comics will immediately recognize the silent King Black Bolt (Anson Bolt) and his wife, Medusa (Serinda Swan), who are engaged in a much more loving relationship compared to their rocky comic book courtship. They’re joined by the leader of the Royal Guard, Gorgon (Eme Ikwuakor) whose hooves apparently grant him super strength but his impulsive nature almost reveals their city to the humans.
Black Bolt’s closest advisor, Karnak (Ken Leung) is also introduced but his characterization is so shallow that only comic book readers are probably aware of what his power is. Karnak has the ability to see all flaws which makes him an expert strategist but it’s so poorly depicted on-screen through graphs that it’s impossible to tell this. The remaining characters are the young princess Crystal (Isabelle Cornish) who controls elements, her 2,000-pound teleporting dog Lockjaw, and the villainous brother to Black Bolt, Maximus (Game of Thrones star Iwan Rheon).
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“Behold…The Inhumans,” not only has to introduce everyone above, they also need to distinguish the plot of the season. Maximus sees his city is suffering under the caste system and wants to bring the Inhumans to Earth while Black Bolt feels it would lead to an all-out war. Considering Inhumans are currently living among humans, this seems like a bit of an overreaction but since when has Marvel really acknowledged Agents of Shield? Nevertheless, Maximus stages a coup with the backing of the Royal Guard after his brother refuses to see his reasoning.
Said coup lacks any kind of tension or risk to raise any stakes in “Behold…The Inhumans”. There’s no real risk that any of the main characters are actually going to die and it doesn’t help that the actors are unable to add any kind of urgency to their scenes.
As expected, Lockjaw manages to escape with almost everyone with the exception of his owner, Crystal. However, the dog doesn’t have the best sense of direction and while he gets everyone in Hawaii, they’re scattered throughout the island. While everyone seems to be struggling with their separation, the only person truly terrified is Medusa, who had her head shaved, which is supposed to be extremely emotional but comes off hilarious as the scene unfolds.
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At this point, “Behold…The Inhumans” doesn’t exactly give us any reason to root for any of the characters. Painting Maximus in a sympathetic light compared to his comic book counterpart makes him less of an insane villain and more of a genuinely good character. Poor writing and acting seem to drag down Inhumans and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the pricy Marvel series ends its run after this season.