söndag 5 november 2023

Twisted Metal Season 1

Back in the 90´s i used to play a lot of computer games and PlayStation games as well. I used to play a lot of Amiga 500 games until we got a PC computer at home and i could play more advanced video games. Most of the time i would play the games on my PlayStation and i had several school friends who also owned one. So we would switch games now and then and i would especially borrow games from my high school friend Anders who´s parents always made sure he had the latest games. I especially loved Tekken 2 back in 1995, it felt like the ultimate fighting game and had such amazing graphics and so many great characters. It was in 1996 when i was at home at Anders where i tried the game Twisted Metal for the very first time. A very apocalyptic car shooting game where you would drive different cars or veichles trying to survive against others who tried to kill you with different weapons. A very simple basic game idea but it was actually fun. I remember we used to see who would survive the longest when Anders invited his friend Robert over and we would switch turns playing. I can tell you i was always the one who didn´t survive very long. Still we had a great time playing Twisted Metal and we had so many weekends playing that game. A year after we finally got to play Twisted Metal 2 that had even better graphics, even bigger missions than before and much more fun car shooting levels. It was like they knew we have to improve everything and make this sequel even more fun. I bought Twisted Metal 2 on PC in Germany actually while i was there on vacation that year and i played that game like a maniac. I still love Twisted Metal 2 even today and still have the PC game. I did play Twisted Metal 3 around 1999 i believe but it was not a good game and after that i gave up on the franchise. I know they released a 4th game but i never played it, maybe because i knew it would be difficult to beat the game quality of Twisted Metal 2. Since then Twisted Metal have survived on different platforms and actually managed to get back on track with Twisted Metal Black on PlayStation 2 ( not everyone might agree on this, but that´s ok ). Being a fan of this franchise i had no idea that a TV series was going to be made from the video game. When i heard about this i was skeptical, how do you turn Twisted Metal into a great TV series? So here we are with the very first season of Twisted Metal and i wonder, is this much better than i expected or is it just as bad as Göta Kanal 3 - Kanalkungens Hemlighet ( a really horrible Swedish comedy sequel that never should have seen the light of day )?

In a post-apocalyptic world after a large-scale cyber attack, cities have become walled fortresses. Criminals have been exiled outside the cities and live in a lawless area. Oustide of the cities you have to arm yourself since no one will help you, especially if you own something valuable. Milkman John Doe ( Anthony Mackie ) survives by delivering packages at different locations with his special built armored car, and he never knows what dangers he will face along the highways. He is offered his own safe home, in a safe location inside a city where he can live a normal life if he does one very special delivery for Raven ( Neve Campbell ) to one very dangerous city. John knows this could change his life forever and agree on doing the mission. But he will find out it is much more complicated than that.

I was curious to see if they were able to pull this off, transforming the TV series and make it look like the video games. And i have to be honest and say this really feels like they showed the franchise respect by using similar weapons and cars as you see in the games. Even though this also gives a completely different look into this world with more characters and more information than in the games themselves, the atmosphere of the games are definetely here with the apocalyptic approach we recognize from the games. One big difference is that there are certain details where this TV series goes much deeper than the video games regarding certain characters. The whacky comedy tone is dedinetely still here, but there is a more serious tone in here as well to make it work into a TV series format. What i really enjoy are the most funny parts such as a tribute to R´n´b artist Sisqó and his 1999 hit song The Thong Song and how his studio album Unleash The Dragon being the greatest ever. There are also some other really funny references in here such as how good the very first Hanson album is from 1997, and they actually play MmmBop in a gun battle scene between cars, absolutely brilliant combination for the apocalypse. If you want to see a gun battle you want to hear Hanson in the background, that´s something i have always hoped to experience. Speaking of characters there is no doubt that my personal favourite character in Twisted Metal is the character known as Sweet Tooth played by actor Joe Seanoa ( yes the professional wrestler ). Sweet Tooth is the perfect character for a TV series such as this where anything insane can happen, and body parts can suddenly fly off when he is around. I do enjoy the chemistry between the main characters John Doe and Quiet, played by actors Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatrize. Twisted Metal is definetely one of the most fun action horror comedy TV series i have seen in many years, and this is exactly my kind of TV series with the right combination of insane characters, lots of gore mixed with a good sense of humour. I really hope we get a second season because i would love to see Twisted Metal for another round, this is exactly how you want a video game adaptation to be transformed in a respectful way. Guns, head exploding, chopped off body parts? Don´t mind if i do, i actually feel right at home at this party.

Rating: DDDD

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