The Sandman (Netflix) Review

By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)

This review is spoiler-free.

Synopsis:

After years of imprisonment, Morpheus — the King of Dreams — embarks on a journey across worlds to find what was stolen from him and restore his power.

When Netflix first announced that they were adapting a live-action series of The Sandman, I was a little nervous – despite Neil Gaiman being personally involved in the production. The Sandman is a property that I really love and enjoy, and with Audible knocking it out of the park with their two recent full-cast productions, the next step was also going to be seeing The Sandman on the small screen. After completing all ten episodes of The Sandman, I am very happy, and relieved, to announce that the show is a consistent triumph! The first episode sets an incredibly high standard of storytelling, production, and performance and these levels never dip throughout the ten-episode run.

From a production and visual standpoint, the money has been spent well and is very evident on screen! The unique, outlandish worlds – be it the Dreaming or Hell – are stunning, but the ‘real-world’ locations and environments are just as impressive – Episode 5’s diner set being a particular stand-out. Visually the series really delivers on the psychedelic and fantasy elements that made the comics so unique and appealing.

Adapting so many complex and uniquely rich stories and characters were always going to be a challenge, especially when you need to reach a much wider audience. Yet somehow, they have managed to make The Sandman so incredibly accessible, but not lose any of the elements and unique quirks that make The Sandman such a stunning series. I know people for who The Sandman, on paper, wouldn’t be their thing at all, but I know have watched the Netflix series and have really enjoyed it! Mixing new elements into the established property goes far beyond just simple gender swaps, all of which work great by the way, but they have managed to bring a freshness to some core elements that make The Sandman better than it was in other mediums.

While I loved every episode, Episodes 4, 5, and 6 were particular stand-outs as they featured some of my favourite Sandman stories and one was essentially a play in its format. The final episode rounds off the series perfectly and sets all the characters up nicely ready for a potential second series. With The Sandman being this good, I will be amazed if they don’t return with a second series, but then again, Netflix has cancelled many great shows – we can only put our faith in dreams that this nightmare scenario does not happen.

In terms of the cast, I didn’t think James McAvoy could be matched as Morpheus, but I was wrong! Tom Sturridge (Morpheus/Dream) is exceptional and really gave a tremendous performance! His strength yet emotional nature was perfectly balanced and I just buy him as Morpheus. Vivienne Acheampong (Lucienne) and Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Death) were key characters in their own right as well as helped support Morpheus as he navigated the world since his prolonged absence. Kyo Ra (Rose) smashed it as The Vortex and Ferdinand Kingsley (Hob) is wonderful – especially as he features in one of my favourite stories.

Moving on to the villains, Boyd Holbrook (The Corinthian) was incredibly menacing and the perfect antagonist to go up against Morpheus. David Thewlis (John Dee) was outstanding and was great at handling the complexity of his character – walking that blurred line of villain and victim. Gwendoline Christie (Lucifer) was everything I wanted her to be and Mason Alexander Park (Desire) was even more devilish than Lucifer! This batch of villains are all completely different from each other, so this made the shows more exciting because everything felt unique and its own thing, posing very different kinds of threats.

The exceptionally large supporting cast all deserve collective praise as this is a series that is packed full of incredible performances, even if they only have limited screentime – Deborah Oyelade (Nada) was there for 40 seconds and she almost stole the episode! But this just further highlights the fact that be it the cast, the production, the music, or the writing… everything that has gone into making The Sandman has been of the highest level.

As for the negatives, well this is going to be the shortest part of the review as there are hardly any! If anything, some of the issues that were faults in the comics have been improved upon. A good example of this is the erasing of some of the problematic ‘of the time’ elements and presenting The Sandman in new ways that fit within the social and moral standards of the present.

Featuring a plethora of outstanding performances and fantastical production elements, The Sandman is a masterpiece in dark-fantasy storytelling and one of the best shows to land on Netflix for a very long time!