The Sandman Archives - Sci-Fi Tips

The Sandman Season One Review: Bring me a dream

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 09:11:23 +0000

Neil Gaiman’s classic Sandman comic book series is one of those properties that has long been considered ‘unfilmable’, mostly because it’s told largely in vignettes, over thousands of years, with a supporting cast of hundreds. Various people have wanted to adapt it over the years, and Gaiman said no to them all – until Netflix came along with their offer. And, thankfully, Gaiman’s instinct to wait for the right partner has resulted in a grown-up, intelligent fantasy series that fills a gap in a market overflowing with snarky, whizz-bang fare.

The series follows the first two volumes of the comic quite faithfully, as Dream, the none-more-goth immortal lord of the dreaming realm (Tom Sturridge) gets captured by a human magus (Charles Dance, in classic bastard mode) and deals with the consequences of his powerful totems being stolen. His quest to regain them takes in a journey to hell, a visit to London with Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman) and a horrifying trip to a 24-hour diner with David Thewlis’ John Dee. The second half of the series focuses on Dream’s problems with Rose Walker (Vanesu Samunyai), a young woman with a dangerous connection to the Dreaming. Through it all is the little issue of escaped nightmare The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), causing all manner of problems for Dream.

The temptation to foreground Dream’s wacky Endless siblings must have been strong, but the show has instead retained the comic’s interest in the regular folk caught in the middle, such as Hob Gadling, who finds himself immortal thanks to a bet between Dream and his big sister Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). Dream’s siblings feature only as glorified cameos, with Kirby Howell-Baptiste shining in a tear-jerking episode, and Mason Alexander Park on wickedly grinning form as Desire.

The show is taking its time, confident that it will be able to tell its full story at its own pace, and reveal its characters and their motivations at the right time. The characters that we meet here are all executed admirably by a stellar cast. Jenna Coleman’s gender-swapped Johanna Constantine is, oddly, one of the most comics-accurate portrayals of the character, and Gwendoline Christie’s beatific Lucifer is like a sinister Renaissance painting come to life. Thewlis and Holbrook also turn in very different, but equally powerful, villainous performances.

But season one, really, serves as a character study of Dream. He begins near-silent in episode one, an unearthly pale and sinewy creature, before the show reveals that the proud, often mopey, sometimes wryly funny Dream has more in common with humanity than he would like to think. And, indeed, if comic fans have one niggling problem with the show it will probably be the fact that Sturridge’s Dream looks less like a god and more like someone you’d see smoking outside a pub in Camden. But TV is a different medium to comics, and this version of Dream works on the screen – and makes the moments where he adopts the laws-of-physics-be-damned aspects of his being all the more impressive.

The show works remarkably well for both fans and newbies alike, the storytelling detours are fun rather than distracting, and the main thrust of the story drives everything forward at a good pace without losing sight of the emotional consequences of all of the cosmic happenings. This is a strong, good-looking, mature adaptation that deserves to be given room to tell its full story.

The Sandman premieres globally on Netflix on August 5, 2022.

The post The Sandman Season One Review: Bring me a dream appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.

The Sandman: Dream dangerously with the official trailer from the Netflix series

admin — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 12:42:35 +0000

Enter the world of The Sandman with our first real look at the Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s classic comic book with the official trailer.

Watch it here…

There is another world that waits for all of us when we close our eyes and sleep in The Sandman — a place called the Dreaming, where The Sandman, Master of Dreams (Tom Sturridge), gives shape to all of our deepest fears and fantasies. But when Dream is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for a century, his absence sets off a series of events that will change both the dreaming and waking worlds forever. To restore order, Dream must journey across different worlds and timelines to mend the mistakes he’s made during his vast existence, revisiting old friends and foes, and meeting new entities — both cosmic and human — along the way…

Want a closer look? Check out a selection of stills from the upcoming series in our gallery…

TheSandman_Season1_00_07_46_01R

TheSandman_Season1_00_08_28_07R

TheSandman_Season1_00_18_59_15R

TheSandman_Season1_00_35_50_00R

TheSandman_Season1_00_30_00_22R

THESANDMAN_Unit_01545RC

THESANDMAN_Unit_00469RC

TheSandman_Season1_00_48_02_21R

TheSandman_Season1_00_46_41_16R

TheSandman_Season1_00_42_57_07R

TheSandman_Season1_00_42_09_21R

Based on the DC comic series written by Neil Gaiman, the series’ showrunner is Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman), based on a script by Neil Gaiman (Good Omens) and David S. Goyer (Foundation). It stars Tom Sturridge (Velvet Buzzsaw), Gwendolyn Christie (Game Of Thrones), Sanjeev Bhaskar (Yesterday), Asim Chaudhry (Wonder Woman 1984), Charles Dance (Game Of Thrones), Vivienne Acheampong (The One) and Boyd Holbrook (Logan).

The Sandman launches on Netflix on August 5, 2022

The post The Sandman: Dream dangerously with the official trailer from the Netflix series appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.

The Sandman: Release data and art for Neil Gaiman adaptation

admin — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 11:35:45 +0000

Mark the 5 August in your diaries folks as the release date for the highly-anticipated adaptaion of Neil Gaiman’s beloved DC comic The Sandman has been confirmed! Not only that but the first teaser has been released for the upcoming ten-epsidoe series, as well as new character posters and artwork.

Watch the teaser here…

Check out the moody character posters and artwork here…

EN-US_Sandman_Character_Johanna_Constatine_Vertical_27x40_RGB_PRE

ENUS_Sandman_Teaser_Master_Vertical_27x40_RGB_PRE

EN-US_Sandman_Character_Corinthian_Sunglasses_Vertical_27x40_RGB_PRE

The date announcement was made as part of Netflix’s Geeked Week, which included a panel to delve into the series more, featuring The Sandman’s cast and creators – Tom Sturridge, Jenna Coleman, Boyd Holbrook, Vivienne Acheampong, Vanesu Samunyai, showrunner Alan Heinberg and comics co-creator Neil Gaiman.

Watch the panel here…

The Sandman launches on Netflix on August 5, 2022

The post The Sandman: Release data and art for Neil Gaiman adaptation appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.