I have been waiting forever for a good series about the early Hawaiian kingdom being united. I only watched the first one, and I'm sold so far. I hope they keep close to the historical events (even with Hollywood artistic interpretation or embellishments). The first inaccuracy is that the women did not cover up their upper bodies until the missionaries came and made them cover up...but you can't have all the women topless in this series...ha. Many scenes with actors are not filmed in Hawaii, but I guess it's hard to get known Mauna and the backgrounds of scenes without CGI or getting rid of all the current buildings and architecture. You can also tell that many extras and background people are New Zealanders and such. I wished they had used more extras with real Hawaiian bloodlines (the scene where they embarked on O'ahu's beach for battle was obvious). I don't know why they couldn't use more Hawaiian "locals" for parts. It was funny to see "Aquaman" and his dad, Tom Curry, share leadership scenes together in this series....
I was born on Maui, went to high school on Kauai, but unfortunately missed my junior year of Hawaiian history. Hopefully this will be on spot and a good for all to understand da early days of the islands...before England, U. S. and settlers took over, of course. Strap in...I feel this is going to be a good series.
Cinemography/editing is decent but typical without creative angles. Music is decent, but it would be awesome if they used more light chants in the background to intensify action or dramatic scenes (Kahiko, Auana, Hapa Haole, etc.). Acting is decent for the main characters. Overall, I am excited to see what this brings. Will it be as good as what "Shogun" did in telling Japan's samurai ancient history? Let's see how they do...
