Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere
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Movie Reviews of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere
Movie Review: Good... but obviously the book is better
Summary: 4 Stars
I was one of the few people who actually watched this when it was first on television back in the UK. And come to the think of it I'm not sure why I did, as at the time I hadn't read any of Neil Gaiman's work and just knew that he wrote some comics or something. Obviously in the intervening years I have discovered what a genius Gaiman is, and what a throughly nice man he seems to be as well.As for Neverwhere: it's good, but it could have (or should have) been great. The premise is interesting and the story is engaging, most of the actors are very good -- particularly those playing Croup and Vandemaar, not to mention the excellent portrayal of the Marquis. But it's let down by a somewhat strange combination of shooting on tape and lighting for film, or something or other, that made all the on location scenes look as though they were amateurishly faked. That coupled with the un-terrifying Beast of London, really let down the whole show.
For me what made the DVD worth buying was the commentary by Neil Gaiman (yes it is on the DVD, strangely located under the individual episodes sub-menu). You get to hear all about the different locations used during the filming. And about what he thought worked really well, and what he was disappointed with. After all he wrote the book to put back in all the things that for one reason or another didn't make it in to the series, or didn't make it in the way he originally envisaged them. All very interesting. After watching the show and then listening to the commentary I really wanted to go and re-read the book... sadly my copy is somewhere over in London Above.
Movie Review: Mind the gap, get on board
Summary: 4 Stars
Fans of "Dr. Who" will feel right at home in "Neverwhere," with its fantastic story line, low-budget look and creaky acting. But "Who" haters will find more of an adult appeal to Neil Gaiman's darkly comic tale, which also brings to mind "The Prisoner," "Clockwork Orange" and, say, "Yellow Submarine." "Neverwhere" wastes no time in hooking viewers, and maintains its loopy appeal over the course of six episodes."Neverwhere" imagines a grimy fantasy world beneath modern London that's unknown and off-limits to those who live above. The homeless who inhabit London Below seem to hail from an unspecified time several centuries back, with their own olde English mythologies, rivalries and rulers. Viewers enter their world along with the mini's hero, a yuppie exec (Gary Bakewell of "Backbeat") who falls down the "Neverwhere" rabbit hole while helping a damsel in distress.
Video is just passable -- the BBC apparently backed out on the plan to process the taped mini as film, foiling director Dewi Humphreys' lighting scheme. Still, the images are a big improvement over the grainy bootleg tapes that have been circulating on eBay. Audio is surprisingly effective now and then.
Gaiman has his say in a BBC interview from 1996 and in a commentary that runs the length of the miniseries. He tells how he got art-rock legend Brian Eno to do the score for pennies and how he snuck in a cameo in graphic-novel artist Dave McKean's astounding opening titles.
Movie Review: Thank Goodness for BBC
Summary: 4 Stars
There is a certain magic in simplicity - and I so relieved that Hollywood did not corrupt such a masterpiece by Neil Gaiman. BBC is constantly criticized for the low production costs, but the true beauty is overlooked. Neverwhere is a fantastic story that creates a subculture and an entire new world. The story is multilayered and each character has his/her own history to be exploited and BBC successfully tells this story and all its components. It is visually stimulating and enchanting, but most of all, it doesn't look overproduced and gawdy. Gaiman's story follows the ordinary (and disillusioned) Richard Mayhew's journey into "London Below", to find that the London underground houses an entire caste system of misfits and homeless people, each with extraordinary talents and powers. To guide him through Neverwhere, Richard travels with a young girl named Door, "an opener", who is being hunted by the very assassins that murdered her family. For an epic journey storyline, Gaiman creates an interesting band of characters, from rat speakers to spear wielding huntresses. It is very easy to get involved with these characters soon after meeting them and its a wonder why I haven't found a Playstation game set with the Neverwhere backdrop.
Neverwhere is a great buy. You don't have to have read the book first to get a feel for what's going on, but there are, of course, amazing details that couldn't be fit in. Still, Neverwhere is fun, enchanting and worth watching with friends of all ages.
Movie Review: 'scuse, all. Am I unreasonably easy to please?
Summary: 4 Stars
I must confess to having never read anything by Neil Gaiman. I have American Gods in my 300+ volume strong To-Be-Read library in Mahwah-Above as opposed to the Archive in Mahwah-Below and I will get to it one day.
I HAVE sat through decades of rubber monsters, Daleks who (I think Jon Pertwee pointed this out) could be easily foiled by tossing an opaque mac over their tops, Cybermen who could have been outrun by a lame tortoise, etc. in Dr. Who and I loved every minute of it. Honestly now, were the effects in Hitchiker's Guide all that terrific? Did Zaphod's extra head look even remotely alive?
I watched Neverwhere before reading any of the reviews here and I found nothing wrong with the visuals at all. The overall quality added to the effect of unreality and it was only here at Amazon that I read that a planned processing step had been omitted by Auntie and that everyone found this a detriment.
I didn't even think ill of the cow, probably because of the flash forwards where it looked much more menacing.
The ideas are what counts. And the ideas, starting with the subtext about the homeless through to Door's family abode and Angel Islington are just fab.
All of the actors, especially Hywel Bennett and Paterson Joseph were wonderful.
My suggestion, unless you are spoiled by state of the art tech to the point of being unable to appreciate the ideas, is to run with it and not look for flaws. American Gods just moved up quite a few places in the queue.
Movie Review: Quite Enjoyable
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading the somwhat mixed reviews for this adeptation of Mr. Gaiman's superb novel Neverwhere. I put off watching it for quite a while after reading the book, but as usually happans my curiosity got the better of me. Prepared for a let down I rented it.
I can understand why some people would be less then impressed with this made for TV miniseries. It is very low budget and fairly cheesey. I couldn't help liking it though. I thought the series followed the story well, though it's true some things were left out, I found however that I didn't really miss them.
I think the reason I liked this show so much is because the series strongly reminded my of import TV series I used to watch as a kid. Shows like Oceangirl, Storylords, Storybook International, and The Tribe. Also I have to say that to me, Paterson Joseph played the perfect Marquis De Carabas, that in itself makes the show worth while, not to mention that some of the sets where actually really nice, and true to the book. To me the show most resembles a well dressed stage play
As far as special featues, the only one I watched was the interview with Neil Gaiman. Which was actually really interesting. There are also charater discriptions, Neil Gaiman's biography, and photo galleries.
If your a fan of BBC or A&E literary adeptations, or series like DR. Who or the BBCA's Robinhood, then you'll probably get a kick out of Neverwhere.