Netflix’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events Review
A Series of Unfortunate Events is unlike almost every other tv show I’ve seen, how you ask?
It is self-aware and often breaks the fourth wall.
Here, ‘the fourth wall’ refers to
“a performance convention in which an invisible, imagined wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this “wall“, the convention assumes, the actors act as if they cannot.” – wikipedia
And A Series of Unfortunate Events breaks it often. Oh, by the way, that was a little joke that you will likely only get if you’ve seen at least some of the series.
But let’s start at the beginning, shall we? The Bad Beginning
The Bad Beginning: AKA What is A Series of Unfortunate Events About?
The series follows the Baudelaire children, who, unfortunately, become orphans within the first five minutes of the first episode. A mysterious figure emerges from the thick fog and informs them of their parent’s early demise in a disastrous fire in their home.
There are, of course, many unfortunate events in this tale.
And while a story that starts with children becoming orphans, and tries it’s best to deter you from watching during the intro, may seem like it would be a dark, dreary affair.
It is in fact. Not
It is fun, exciting, different, intelligent, and charming.
If you are looking for something to watch, then you could do far worse.
The Books
The Netflix series is based on a series of books of the same name and has in fact been made into a film previously (2004), of which I am one of few people that liked it.
The film version had Jim Carrey as the despicable Count Olaf and Emily Browning as Violet Baudelaire.
While the film is very charming, with its distinctive style that is very similar to the new series, it isn’t without its faults. And trying to cram the first 3 books into a 90-minute film does do them a disservice.
The Netflix version splits each book into 2 episodes, thus giving each book roughly 90 minutes (45 minutes each episode). This obviously allows for greater depth and character development. Especially with the Montgomery Montgomery character in the third episode: The Reptile Room.
More on that Later. If you haven’t seen the Netflix trailer yet, watch the trailer here:
I will continue this review after a brief intermission of sleep…
Review
90%
Summary A beautifully crafted series for young and old. Charming, endearing and fun. You will want to watch every episode in one go, and then the most unfortunate event happens when you realise you now have to wait for them to make series two before you can continue your journey with the Baudelaire children. Fantastic.