Lodewickus

I enjoyed the OG Castlevania, that really set the bar high, but Netflix just haven't been able to reproduce its quality.

I came in fresh with no knowledge of DMC. I knew about it, but nothing story wise. Dante's backstory is interesting, but it takes a back seat to the story of Lady. She becomes the driving force in the show, and she has the history with the antagonist, not Dante.

The antagonist, Bunny, I thought had a great backstory and excellent character development, but then it is wasted on a second tier protagonist. It made the final battle feel emptier than it should have been.

This is all a shame, because Lady isn't a badly written character, quite the contrary, but she takes the helm, and that dilutes Dante's character.

It's an okay show, the soundtrack can be good, the fights are okay, but Bunny was a smart villian. Just wish the rest of the show was as smart.

Many have said it before, Castlevania S1 is hard to equal, nevermind topping it. They really did try with this series, but some odd choices for characters and their decisions, to gaping plot holes, really hurt its presentation.

Isaac's character arc in the original is one of the best characters written. None of that is here. There's no character to really latch on to. Sure, there's changes seen in some, but they all feel rushed, like someone flicked their finger and now they've changed. There's too many characters being given screen time, that it dilutes the character moments.

In one part, a character central to the story is vanquished, but they're mentioned maybe twice afterwards, and not even by those whom you'd imagine would be talking the event. Characters transport hundreds of miles in an instant, then back again. It made no sense. The also included some opera, which was, sorry to say, gut wrenching and ruined the pace completely. He was also one of the worst character designs. What's up with the hands in the face? Maybe subjective, but it didn't look good.

Richter never goes through anything major, he feels very much like a Mary Sue. Maria and Annette are fine additions, if a bit on the nose with their powers, but they are never shown to eclipse the male leads as seen in much media today. Alucard is just a walking depression. Far out man, speak up. There are conversational moments were the originals quick and sharp witted dialogue comes through, but it's too little and comes too late.

Drolta is probably the best written character of the lot, much like Isaac was being the loyal servent for the main antagonist, but she didn't get enough screen time to give the same lasting impact Isaac did.

The character designs in S2 are far superior than S1, with sound and music matching S1.

With better character development and sharper writing, this could've been a great series alongside the original, but it falls short. You might enjoy it if you loved the original, otherwise you'd find yourself a bit bored.

It's not worth your time. The story really goes nowhere. The main character is not particularly smart, and the ending is not rewarding in the slightest. I don't normally rate movies really bad, I am forgiving if it has some redeemable or appreciated element, and I especially don't do reviews much, most things have been said by the time I get around watching it, but man, I have to warn people about this. Only thing going for it is the cinematography. The ending really is one of the worst, if not in fact THE worst ending I've ever seen. It goes all crazy, and I've seen A Serbian Film. Look for something better, there's been a tonne of good horror. I can't think of many worst ways to spend your time than watching this atrocious piece of failed cinema. A shame because I like Alex Garland's content, but this just ain't good.