Secret Level is an American adult animated anthology series created by Tim Miller for Amazon Prime Video. It is produced by his Blur Studio with Amazon MGM Studios. Dave Wilson executive produces and serves as supervising director. It consists of 15 stories set in the worlds of different video games. The voice cast includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart, Laura Bailey, Heaven Hart, Keanu Reeves, Gabriel Luna, Ariana Greenblatt, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Michael Beach, Emily Swallow, and Claudia Doumit.
| Secret Level | |
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Logo | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Tim Miller |
| Directed by | Dave Wilson |
| Creative director | Jerome Denjean |
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| Music by |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | December 10, 2024 – present |
The series was ordered by Amazon in August 2024 and was first revealed at Gamescom that month. It was released worldwide on December 10, 2024.
Premise
editThe series consists of fifteen animated, standalone short stories based on the following video games and franchises:[1][2][3][4]
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Animation studio | Original release date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Dungeons & Dragons: The Queen's Cradle" | Maxime Luère, Léon Bérelle, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra | K. D. Davila and Levin Menekse
Short Story by: Brooke Bolander | Unit Image | December 10, 2024 | #ATRI 104 |
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Cast : Noah Manzoor as Solon, Madeleine Knight as Mora, Laura Wohlwend as Tally, Delroy Atkinson as Luzum, Umulisa Gahiga as Ahokal, Paul Ridley as Oriel, Rita Estevanovich and Tracy Wiles as Tiamat | ||||||
| 2 | "Sifu: It Takes a Life" | László Ruska | Rich Larson
Short Story by: Rich Larson | Digic Pictures | December 10, 2024 | #ATRI 108 |
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Cast : Parry Shen as MC (young), Ping Wu as MC (old), Lydia Look as Li, Nelson Lee as Sean, Feodor Chin as Thug, Rae Lim as MC (child) | ||||||
| 3 | "New World: The Once and Future King" | Maxime Luère, Léon Bérelle, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra | Teleplay by : J. T. Petty and Philip Gelatt | Unit Image | December 10, 2024 | #ATRI 118 |
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Cast : Arnold Schwarzenegger as King Aelstrom, Steven Pacey as Scaevola, Gabriel Luna as King Zimah, Arazou as Urda, Dana Haqjoo as Zimah's aide, Carlo Rota as Sorcerer | ||||||
| 4 | "Unreal Tournament: Xan" | Franck Balson | Justin Rhodes | Blur Studio | December 10, 2024 | #ATRI 102 |
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Cast : Elodie Yung as The Gamemaster, Gideon Emery as Necris Captain, Mitch Eakins as Dean, Chris Payne Gilbert as Parker, Carlin James as Liandri Technician, Fred Tatasciore as Arena Announcer | ||||||
| 5 | "Warhammer 40,000: And They Shall Know No Fear" | Dave Wilson | J. T. Petty and Justin Rhodes | Blur Studio | December 10, 2024 | #ATRI 101 |
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Cast : Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Bladeguard Sergeant Metaurus, Clive Standen as Lieutenant Titus, Ben Plessala as Young Titus, Mark Sheppard as Astropath and Ultramarines Orbital Command, Alexa Kahn as Sorcerer of Tzeentch | ||||||
| 6 | "PAC-MAN: Circle" | Victor Maldonado & Alfredo Torres | Teleplay by : J. T. Petty | Illusorium | December 10, 2024 | #ATRI 115 |
| 7 | "Crossfire: Good Conflict" | Damian Nenow | Philip Gelatt
Short Story by: Russ Linton | Platige Image | December 10, 2024 | #ATRI 112 |
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Cast : Ricky Whittle as Cross, Claudia Doumit as Layla, Samuel Roukin as Fitz, Matt Peters as Mahler, Jessica Camacho as Cabrera, Jake Matthews as Mason, Aidan Bristow as Jeffrey, Chris Jai Alex as Unaffiliated Mercenary Driver and Global Risk Operator, Piotr Michael as Global Risk Sniper | ||||||
| 8 | "Armored Core: Asset Management" | Dave Wilson | Teleplay by : J. T. Petty
Short Story by: Peter Watts | Digic Pictures | December 10, 2024 | #ATRI 117 |
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Cast : Keanu Reeves as Pilot, Erin Yvette as The Voice, Temuera Morrison as Old Salt, Patrick Schwarzenegger as The Kid, Steve Blum as Dispatch and Mechanic | ||||||
Production
editSecret Level was created by Tim Miller, who executive produces at his company Blur Studio. Blur Studio serves as a production company along with Amazon MGM Studios. Dave Wilson serves as executive producer and supervising director. The series was ordered by Amazon Prime Video on August 14, 2024.[5]
Promotion
editThe series was announced during Gamescom on August 20, 2024. A trailer was released at the event, which featured segments from each of the episodes.[1][7]
The pilot who features in the Armored Core episode was the subject of media attention and speculation due to his resemblance to actor Keanu Reeves.[8][9] Though Prime Video declined to disclose casting information at the time of the announcement, ComicBook.com reported an influx of "nearly nothing but replies about Reeves and his potential appearance in [the series]" under a post by Armored Core's social media account.[10] IGN's Wesley Yin-Poole said that were it not really Reeves, the actor could claim a royalty payment due to the certainty of the character's likeness to his.[11] GamesRadar+'s Ali Jones remarked that while the shot could have been "simply be an ethnically ambiguous man with similar facial hair", they noted the likeness, and doubted that Armored Core would place the image so prominently on their social media account if it were "just some random actor" and not Reeves.[12]
In October 2024 Reeves's casting was officially revealed alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart, Heaven Hart, Gabriel Luna, Ariana Greenblatt, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Michael Beach, Emily Swallow, and Claudia Doumit.[6]
Release
editThe series premiered worldwide on December 10, 2024.[13] Half of the episodes were released for the premiere, and the other half releases on December 17, 2024.[6]
Reception
editOn the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Secret Level has an approval rating of 64% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 6.0/10.[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 53 out of 100 based on nine critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[15] Steven Nguyen Scaife of IGN said the show struggles to find satisfying stories for a short-form anthology in a 5/10 review and felt dissatisfied by the section of the source material.[16] Aramide Tinubu of Variety wrote that the show acts as poorly written AI summaries of massive tales[17].
References
edit- ^ a b Martin, Cole (August 20, 2024). "Love, Death & Robots creator reveals new gaming-themed anthology series for Prime Video during Gamescom Opening Night Live". Windows Central. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ Higham, Michael (August 20, 2024). "Amazon Series Secret Level Reveals Animated Stories For God Of War, Sifu, Warhammer And More". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 20, 2024). "Prime Video's Animated Anthology Series Secret Level Reveals Full List Of Featured Games, Including Pac-Man & D&D, Gets Premiere Date & Teaser". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
- ^ Tassi, Paul (August 21, 2024). "A List Of Every Game Featured In Amazon's Promising Secret Level Show". Forbes. Integrated Whale Media Investments. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 14, 2024). "Prime Video Orders Animated Video Game Anthology Series Secret Level From Love, Death & Robots Creator". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ a b c Gonzalez, Umberto (19 October 2024). "Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart, Keanu Reeves Join Prime Video's Adult Animated Show 'Secret Level'". The Wrap. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (August 21, 2024). "Secret Level: Every Video Game In The New Gamescom Trailer". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ Gach, Ethan (August 20, 2024). "It Sure Looks Like Keanu Reeves Is Starring In An Armored Core Short Film For Amazon". Kotaku. G/O Media. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ Barder, Ollie (August 21, 2024). "New Anthology Series Secret Level Will Feature Armored Core". Forbes. Integrated Whale Media Investments. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ Moore, Logan (August 20, 2024). "Is Keanu Reeves in Secret Level's Armored Core Episode?". ComicBook.com. Savage Ventures. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (August 21, 2024). "It Looks Like Keanu Reeves Is in Amazon's Armored Core Animation". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ Jones, Ali (August 20, 2024). "I think Keanu Reeves is in the new Armored Core adaptation, and I can't believe no one's saying anything about it". GamesRadar+. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 21, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
- ^ Seitz, Loree (August 20, 2024). "Video Game-Inspired Secret Level Anthology Series Gets December Premiere Date on Prime Video". TheWrap. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
- ^ "Secret Level: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
- ^ "Secret Level: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
- ^ Nguyen Scaife, Steven (December 5, 2024). "Secret Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
- ^ Tinubu, Aramide (December 10, 2024). "Prime Video's Video Game Anthology 'Secret Level' Is an Uninspired Snooze: TV Review". Variety (magazine). Retrieved December 11, 2024.
External links
edit- Secret Level at IMDb