Chris1229

These first 3 episodes have been a slog- This show is premiering on Adult Swim but I can't for the life of me understand who the audience is supposed to be (small children?) or why this show exists - It's disappointing because the animation production values are generally seem pretty good but the writing and voice casting are garbage.

Jack Quaid unfortunately doesn't have the gravitas to voice the titular character, they ought to rename this show to My Adventures with Superboy (in my opinion that casting was the single worst decision of the production and one that might be unrecoverable unless recast) Quaid is perhaps too well known for his role in Amazon hit (The Boys) and typecast as too boyish.

That might not be such a deal breaker perhaps if there weren't already so many much better iconic animated performances out there from especially George Newbern (JL/JLU), and Tim Daly (Superman TAS).

As for the writing so far, it reads like a low stakes buddy comedy (more for small children) which is why it's perplexing this is premiering on Adult Swim and HBO, and the early reviews seem unusually high relative to Justice League (which was a great show), especially given how thin these first 3 episodes have been- so where have those rating come from I do not know.

As for the vague origin story (hinted at?) in episodes 2-3 it's a slight departure from the well trodden Fortress of Solitude and Jor-El speaking plainly (which may come together to work better in later episodes) but in my opinion so far it's a needless detour for some sort of vague conspiracy sort of plot.

Instead we're given a young adult Clark Kent/Superman, already graduated, and freshly arrived in Metropolis, who has somehow managed to go his whole Teenage life without a Smallville backstory to discover his powers - it's not a great place to start this story, doesn't make much sense (to anyone who's got any familiarity with these characters), and a man-child Superman who doesn't even have a grasp on his own powers or identity already getting this close to the primary love interest is downright cringey.

There aren't many series specifically covering popular conspiracy theories, but Ventura seems to cover the broad strokes well enough for the runtime. The nature of the subject matter is polarizing but Ventura is an interesting enough character who doesn't bring too much of the wrong baggage to this subject matter - some of the people he interviews for the show are perhaps a bit unsuitable and detract from the serious inquiry of the stories they are trying to convey, but his team's adversarial approach to scrutinizing the accounts and motives seems to ground the presentation well enough while being playful and accessible - you're never going to be able to go over all the details in the time allotted, and all the pieces matter usually when it comes to conspiracy so armchair experts will find much to be desired, but otherwise it's decent edutainment.

This show is very much a product of its time (simpler times of 2009) and probably not the sort of thing a lot of networks would be comfortable airing in the 'post-truth' era, certainly not without a lot more careful editorial oversight - some of the people interviewed for this show have been so thoroughly cancelled that we're not going to see them again; personalities like David Icke are arguably so demented that even back in 2009 he shouldn't have been platformed on this show at least not without a strong disclaimer; because popular conspiracy theorists like Icke and Alex Jones are important to the story of how CT's are sustained and propagated, whether they be dangerously ignorant peddlers like the aforementioned, or whistleblowers or journalists whose suppression might not be fully realized today these characters are relevant to the stories so there is an argument for their inclusion in any holistic presentation even if you were making this show today, but since a lot of those guys make their money peddling disinformation and selling products off their personal brands they should come with clear disclaimers.

I for one love this modernised view of Planet of the Apes. Coming from a younger generation of Film viewers, watching movies with 30 year old plots and FX isn't as captivating as newer renditions with updated technology and plots. The Hatred towards humans feels more genuine especially from Thade as well as the fear shown when the apes realize the power marky has. Obviously the makeup and effects are a lot more advanced which helps remove some of the silliness of the notion of a planet ruled by apes. I enjoyed the ending, it makes you think and left me wanting to see more, perhaps the ending meant nothing whatever the case it left people thinking and debating. I would love to see a sequel to this version if it were possible.