8 TVs
by Thinus Ferreira
A helmeted soldier on a distant desert-like planet fights against enemies, saves a child, decides to protect said child, is seen to have experienced childhood trauma in back flashes, travels the galaxy and meets up with allies as enemies plot, while a bigger origin story and overall mystery both start to unfold.
Nope, not Star Wars' The Mandalorian on Disney+ that South Africans can't see, but the new science fiction drama series Halo, based on the popular video game, from Paramount+ but snagged by MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax that South Africans indeed can see.
Whether you've played Halo and are familiar with Cortana and Master Chief and the Covenant or not, sci-fi series lovers will definitely like this live-action drama adaptation.
Warning: Dads don't watch with your kids - the first 10 minutes has exploding human heads and bodies not fit for children, although the rest of the first two episodes made available to TV critics for preview are fine.
Halo is a more than adequate TV adaptation of the video game with the story set in motion when Pablo Schreiber as Spartan Master Chief John-117 saves Kwan Ah (Yerin Ha) on the planet Madrigal and he touches an alien artefact that he can somehow access.
The alien device triggers long-blocked memories of the Spartan soldier who starts his space quest going AWOL while the UNSC and scientist Catherine Halsey (Natascha McElhone), creator of the Spartan programme, tries to get him to return.
Set in 2552, viewers are also introduced to the Covenant - a religious group of aliens who raised a human called Makee (Charlie Murphy) - who are after the sought-after artefact themselves, with Makee dispatched at the end of the second episode to herself go and retrieve it.
The acting, set design, special effects and story in Halo are more than adequate and Master Chief removes his helmet within the first two scene-setting episodes, unlike The Mandalorian, with video game arcana like Cortana and High Charity being introduced without the viewer having to have played the game to make sense of the show and the start-up story.
Pablo Schreiber brings a likeability, human touch and humanity to the Master Chief armour while older Gen X viewers will enjoy spotting numerous easter eggs from the Halo mythos as well as touchpoints and subtly interwoven themes shared with a myriad of sci-fi stories that came before from Total Recall to Starship Troopers.
Halo is definitely worth the watch, isn't (just) for gamers, isn't a straight-up story adaptation of the video game ( a right decision by the producers) with Master Chief making a solid start in the first two world-building episodes.
Halo season 1 is on Showmax from 25 March with new episodes released weekly.
