Whether you like comics, novels, or just listening to someone incredibly smart talk, especially about comics, Neil Gaiman has something for everyone. His comics are as popular as his books, both of which tend to have a cult following. In many cases, you’ll have seen his work, or something inspired by it and not even realize it. The Sandman is something that was not only a great work that became really popular, but it also gathered a following that rivaled what you saw with The Walking Dead. That’s no small feat! Sandman is based on a comic about a cult that tries to capture death. Instead, they obtain its sibling, Dream. They aren’t sure what to do with it, so they keep it and try to convince it to do their bidding like all selfish human beings tend to do. Yes, we have seen similar plot lines before because human beings are predictable. What happens next is a domino effect that has repercussions spanning not just the world we know, but some that we could never imagine existed. Different realities are now in danger more than you have ever seen in Doctor Who or all the Multiverses in the Marvel Universe.
The storyline was decent and it marries well with the comic. The comics were more in-depth and covered more ground, as they usually are, but this is only the first season and there is plenty of room to move forward from here on out. But it stayed true to Neil Gaiman’s intention since he oversaw a lot of it. Not every show based on comics does that. This may have been one of the better adaptations. The acting wasn’t horrible at all, but it did leave me wanting more. I thought that given the cast and what they were all capable of it should have blown me out of the water. The Sandman really did have a great cast from David Thewlis, Jenna Coleman, Gwendoline Christie, Patton Oswalt, Boyd Holbrook, and Tom Sturridge. Their performances were okay, but the characters could have been fleshed out more. Perhaps that is what season 2 is for. There are a lot of familiar faces, so you know that the actors were chosen because of their chops. it just would have been nice to see everything those chops could do. Hopefully, we get a season 2.
The direction wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything spectacular. There was nothing innovative or groundbreaking, but there were some good scenes. The visuals are stunning and brings the true vision of the comics to life. But you got to have more than visuals to tell a good story. You can see that there was a great overall plan, but it came across as lacking execution during the first season. Whether it was a miscommunication of the vision or a lack of execution we’ll never know. It’s something that can definitely be corrected in Season 2. However, fans shouldn’t worry, many great shows had an uneven first season before they finally found their footing like Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Walking Dead, and you could even make the case for season one of Stranger Things despite how great the show is. Season 1 of The Sandman is good jumping point for fans of the comic series, but they can do better in season 2. Although, you should still check out Season 1 especially if you’re of the comics. It’s a good adaptation and can only get better.
