Current:Home > MyReview: Why Amazon's 'Fallout' adaptation is so much flippin' fun (the Ghoul helps) -RiskRadar
Review: Why Amazon's 'Fallout' adaptation is so much flippin' fun (the Ghoul helps)
View
Date:2025-04-16 23:22:07
When life gives you giant radioactive cockroaches, you say, "Okey dokey!"
At least you do if you're Lucy (Ella Purnell), the eternally optimistic protagonist of Amazon Prime's "Fallout" (streaming Wednesday, 9 EDT/6 PDT, ★★★ out of four). The crux of the adaptation of the popular post-apocalyptic video game series is the contrast of Lucy's peppy step with the backdrop of a desolate, violent and dirty world, 200 years after nuclear armageddon. Silly against serious. Americana against anarchy. A future stuck in the past.
This retro-futuristic style comes to life in vivid Technicolor in the series, which feels like the video game come to life in the best way possible, full of exaggerated costumes, cartoonish violence and very big guns. But there's a strong story underneath all those 1950s outfits and two-headed cows. "Fallout" is very aware that its roots are fun, but not mindless. And while there is plenty of room in the zeitgeist for sober and emotional game adaptations (HBO's "The Last of Us") and also for the juvenile ("The Super Mario Bros. Movie"), "Fallout" finds a unique and lively place in the middle.
Where to find it:'Fallout' is coming to Prime earlier than expected: Release date, time, cast, how to watch
"Fallout" starts with Lucy, a plucky young citizen of Vault 33, a clean and safe fallout bunker occupied by the decedents of those rich enough to afford a spot back in the 1950s when the U.S. and the Soviet Union nuked each other into oblivion. The world of the vault is full of '50s kitsch and can-do spirit; Lucy believes she was born to "save America." But when raiders from the lawless surface break into the bunker and kidnap Lucy's father (Kyle MacLachlan), she decides to brave the nuclear wasteland to save him.
There's also Maximus (Aaron Moten), a lowly grub in the psuedo-religious "Brotherhood of Steel" military who wants to be a "knight" and drive a mechanized power suit (think of a more buff Iron Man). And most enigmatic of all is the Ghoul (the always delightful Walton Goggins), a mutated, deformed being who's lately buried alive. The three eventually connect as Maximus and the Ghoul pursue a mysterious doctor (Michael Emerson) whom Lucy happens to run into. The Ghoul wants a bounty, Maximus wants to impress his superiors and Lucy might be able to get her dad back with the doctor's help. That's if they aren't killed by irradiated bears along the way.
Unfortunately, Maximus' character arc and storyline is by far the weakest aspect of the series. Neither the scripts nor Moten give the character depth or understandable motivation. Even the intentionally ill-defined Ghoul comes off as a more self-assured character. And worse, it's in the complex, jargon-y "Brotherhood of Steel" that the sci-fi gobbledygook starts to sound like white noise, even if you love hard sci-fi.
Still, two out of three strong leads ain't bad, and Purnell ― with her anime eyes ― and Goggins with his mischievous grin are more than enough to carry "Fallout" across the wasteland. Series creators Geneva Robertson-Dworet ("Captain Marvel") and Graham Wagner ("Silicon Valley") are loyal to the game's spirit, yet wisely avoid common video game adaptation clichés, like an overreliance on "first-person" perspective and a too-literal recreation of the original story. Opting for an new narrative that simply takes place in the "Fallout" world, the series is a mix of adventure and puzzle-box mystery, with more than enough action scenes to satisfy the RPG faithful. It's fun, and only occasionally overcomplicated.
And if the violence is quite frequent and exquisitely graphic? Hey, it all gels in a fictional world where Goggins doesn't have a nose.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Treat Yourself With the Top 28 Trending Beauty Products on Amazon Right Now Starting at Just $1
- Judge says gun found in car of Myon Burrell, sentenced to life as teen, can be evidence in new case
- Trevor Noah Reacts to Being Labeled Loser Over His Single Status at Age 40
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- An anchovy feast draws a crush of sea lions to one of San Francisco’s piers, the most in 15 years
- US loosens some electric vehicle battery rules, potentially making more EVs eligible for tax credits
- Kate Middleton and Prince William’s Designer Friend Says They’re “Going Through Hell”
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Why is 'Star Wars' Day on May 4? What is it? Here's how the unofficial holiday came to be
Ranking
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- In a first, an orangutan is seen using a medicinal plant to treat injury
- Jalen Brunson is a true superstar who can take Knicks where they haven't been in decades
- Celebrate May the Fourth with These Star Wars Items That Are Jedi-Approved
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- NYPD body cameras show mother pleading “Don’t shoot!” before officers kill her 19-year-old son
- Houston braces for flooding to worsen in wake of storms
- A Black lawmaker briefly expelled from the Tennessee Statehouse will remain on the 2024 ballot
Recommendation
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
Indiana Fever move WNBA preseason home game to accommodate Pacers' playoff schedule
Katie Ledecky, Jim Thorpe among 2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients by Joe Biden
Archaeologists unveil face of Neanderthal woman 75,000 years after she died: High stakes 3D jigsaw puzzle
House passes bill to add 66 new federal judgeships, but prospects murky after Biden veto threat
Judge says gun found in car of Myon Burrell, sentenced to life as teen, can be evidence in new case
'9-1-1' stars talk Maddie and Chimney's roller-coaster wedding, Buck's 'perfect' gay kiss
Tornadoes hit parts of Texas, more severe weather in weekend forecast