The Swarm

I loved "The Swarm". But in its printed form, as the book was a clever and thrilling science thriller that had a few flaws but was nevertheless a page turner. So, I was looking forward to the show, expecting an intelligent thrill ride.

But nope.

This show would've been better off, if one of the bigger streaming services would have given it the right treatment. But this Euro-Production led by German national TV station ZDF is more talking about what happens, then showing it. The effects are nothing special and the changes they made could've worked, if not executed so poorly.

The cast is okay, though, but even they are not able to save the swarm from being a below average thriller/drama that has its moments but is not able to transport the feeling of a global, apocalyptic threat to the screen.

Everything seems "small" and the "possible end of the world" danger is absolutely lacking.

The author himself was not happy with the result and said in an interview "it is more soap, then thriller", and sadly, he is right. I would have given it 6 stars, but the last episode was such a disappointment, that I think an average rating for an average show is just right.

Maybe a bigger studio or streaming service will jump in and make it right. "The Swarm" deserves it!

The Bad: stiff and badly written dialogues, awkward voice acting, annoying accents that aren't even cliché like a lot of things in this adaption

The Good: an intriguing story about a biological/environmental threat and how to deal with it (different than your standard zombie apocalypse show) with the right amount of nerdiness to my liking.

The portrayal of the story's philosophical/spiritual aspects was executed too cautiously, imho and deserves more focus.

By the way: I hereby offer my services as voice acting coach for (German) actors.

Years of experience and a fine ear for subtleties. ;-)

The book "The Swarm" is an entertaining, thrilling and because of the well researched scientific facts educating novel about nature fighting back against the human invasion and destruction of marine ecosystems.

With the TV adaption, you won't get any of that so far, at least not in the first three episodes. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad show. It's just not a good one, either. For years, there was talk about making the book into a movie, which didn't happen.

If you read the book and then watch this show, you'll understand why: Education is the enemy of thrill and in a series, there just isn't room to cover both without destroying the suspense.

The cast and setting on the other hand are all on point, and the filming locations are stunning. Sure, casting is a matter of personal opinion, if you know the novel, you'll have your own images in mind. But to be fair, that the makers didn't get wrong.

So order a copy of the novel and watch this show while waiting for your book to arrive.

Some really grumpy reviews, here. Some people should ask themselves why they expect so much. Personally, if I like the concept, I can pretty much use my own imagination to fill the void and, in this case, the concept is an interesting one. 'The Earth fighting back' is slowly developing into a thought provoking genre. One that's highly relevant to today's global discourse; the earth will live on without us if we don't kill it first. If, like some others here, you need your movies/tv/music/art to do all the work for you, then yes, give it a miss. If not and you've got some hours to kill, give it a go 🤷‍♂️

Once again I almost miss out on a series because I made the mistake of reading reviews on imdb, but thankfully I decided to watch it and make up my own mind, yes it is a little bit slow in parts, but nowhere near as bad as some have said. The story is actually very good, as is the acting, and yes things do actually happen, also there's a couple of familiar faces, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers from Game of Thrones, and Rune Temte from The Last Kingdom.

So if anyone is thinking of watching this, don't be put off by the reviews on here, watch it for yourself and make up your own mind, like me you may be pleasantly surprised.