The Shannara Chronicles: Season Two - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Shannara Chronicles: Season Two

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I was one of the people pleasantly surprised by The Shannara Chronicles last year when I reviewed the home video release of the first season. As a life long fan of Terry Brooks and his magical world of Shannara I was expecting the worst, but came out rather pleased with what I saw. That’s not to say that I don’t see the huge deviations from the original books in the TV show, but rather that I enjoyed the show for what it was. I decently mid level fantasy series that doesn’t try to be Game of Thrones. Season One was a solid entry for a young adult aimed fantasy series and season two won’t really change anyone’s minds as it really is more of the same. Fans of the show will enjoy the serialized show, while detractors won’t find any betterments to the story telling and change their minds.

For those who aren’t readers of Terry Brooks’ novels. The world of the 4 Kingdoms is not a fantasy world, or even another world at all. It’s actually earth many thousands of years in the future. It seems that before the world as we know it there were only two races. The magical elves and the evil demons. Millennia ago the elves defeated the demons and banished them to another dimension and sealed them for eternity with a magical tree known as the Ellcrys. Soon an aberration formed, and that was man. Mankind grew up quickly and soon began to populate and fill the world. As man grew the elves became fewer and fewer, slipping into hiding so much so that humans forgot all about magic, elves and demons, writing them down as myth and lore. However, humankind reached a pinnacle and destroyed the earth with nuclear holocaust, leaving very few survivors. With the Earth in disarray the last human and elf survivors created the Druid’s council, a council of magi that blended magic and technology in hopes of becoming great once more. The nuclear holocaust also mutated some of the humans, and three other races were born. Naming them after the old mythological stories from mankind’s history they became known as gnomes, dwarves and trolls. Now the world is split into 4 kingdoms, with the trolls and gnomes in their kingdom, the elves in theirs, and the humans and dwarves making their way with their own lands.

The second season picks up right after the first season ends with Eretria (Ivana Baquero) being captured by the trolls near the fallen remains of what appears to be San Francisco. It turns out that the trolls who capture her are actually humans. Not only that, humans that Eretria grew up with. Fast forward a year and Eretria is living there, away from the chaos of the Elves, and the savagery of human rovers. Wil (Austin Butler) has given up his mantle of hero and is trying to be a simple healer, away from the prying eyes of humanity, and Allanon is off trying to track down his rogue apprentice Bandon (Marcus Vanco). However, things are just about to get worse. After Bandon stole the Warlock Lord’s sword in the first film he became consumed by it. The ancient warlock’s soul still burns on and it has corrupted the young sorcerer more than Allanon expected. Trying to resurrect the ancient power, Bandon is willing to sacrifice everything he is for a chance at becoming something greater than an abused boy.

Simultaneously, the world of the elves is falling apart. With the ancient demons gone, and Allanon’s presence bringing out even MORE magic uses, the general populace is becoming nervous about so many magic users. A rogue group of mercenaries lead by General Riga (Desmond Chiam), known as The Crimson are hunting down magic users and slaughtering them at will. This includes even the powerful Allanon, as their hatred of magic dictates that to cleanse the land, there needs to be a purge of everything magical. This pits elf against elf, human against human, and their internal squabbles needlessly pulls them away from the true threat that is coming. A resurrected Warlock Lord who’s power is near undefeatable.

Season Two is really more of the same for fans of the show. A new demonic/evil magic power is coming to wreak havoc on the world, and it’s up to Wil and Allanon to stop it. However, the show does actually evolve just a bit. Wil is still the same goofy kid, but he is slowly accepting his place as someone “different” from everyone else, and The world has opened up a little bit. We get to see into the human realm, as well as more focus on the Gnome race. But the biggest boon of all to the show is the development of Bandon as a villain. He was kind of under utilized in season one, but here he’s allowed tot flex and stretch his legs a bit. Also, the series delves into the idea of “good vs. evil” in ways that aren’t completely black and white. On the flip side, there is also the same flaws that plagued last year’s season too. Mainly that it feels a bit too much like 90210 with pretty people doing pretty people things and having pretty people problems (say that 10 times fast). The interpersonal romances between the characters is a bit forced (especially Aretria’s) and while it’s not nearly as bad as some of the CW stuff, it does get irritating.

Despite some flaws in the show, and essentially being a young adult fantasy series, I really enjoyed the series for some reason. The action is fun enough, Manu Bennett and Bandon are two incredible draws, but it's the final 2 episodes of the season that really just went balls to the walls nuts and had me really impressed. Sadly, MTV and Viacom decided to drop the show due to the budget being too much of a strain on them, so might not get a third season despite some rather solid ratings. Although, the creators are farming out the show to other channels in hopes of getting picked up for a third season, so who knows what the future holds.




Rating:

Rated TV-14 by the MPAA




Video:

Unlike season one, season two of The Shannara Chronicles didn’t have a delayed Blu-ray release, so no need to review the DVD first and then the Blu-ray. The show looks pretty much the same as the first season, with a digitally shot production that is appropriately detailed for a modern TV show. MTV’s budget was decent for the show, but some of the CGI looks a little spotty (especially the human castle), but overall the limited budget doesn’t hamper the image at all, as the show is decidedly crisp and clear. Most of the daylight shots border on being amazing, with finely detailed faces, good skin tones and bright colors that haven’t been color graded very much at all. Sometimes the use of CGI can give a softer look though, and blur some of the fine detail levels. There’s a little bit of black crush in the darker shots, and some color banding rears it’s head every once in a while (the scene where Allanon and Will rappelling down the cliff to find the Sword of Shannara is the most egregious in episode 4).





Audio:

The 5.1 Dolby TrueHD lossless track sounds very similar to the first season, and by that I mean it’s a solid track that recreates the fantasy environment quite nicely. The front soundstate is busy with activity during the adventures of Will and crew, with the whistling of arrows flying by the ear, or the clash of steel against steel during the blade fights. Magical energy blasts roar with authority, and the surrounds get their fair share of workout too. LFE is deep and weighty during the battles, and the dialog is above reproach and evenly balanced with the rest of the track. My only real complaint is that while LFE is tight and punchy for a majority of the time, the whole track feels a bit thinner than I would have liked. The mid range doesn’t have that energy to it that really invigorates a track, and the besides the explosive roar of magic and the thudding of a heavy door, the track doesn’t feel as powerful as others in the same genre. It’s a capable track, but it doesn’t excel past being capable most of the time.





Extras:

• Behind the Scenes Featurettes
- Inside the Wardrobe Closet
- New Characters
- Sit Down with the Show-Runners

Final Score: ​

The Shannara Chronicles is one of those shows that seems to polarize viewers. As a lifelong Terry Brooks fan I have to admit that the show is really only Shannara in name only. Much of the works have been changed and blended with other books to create the show, and the wooden acting IS a detriment at times. However, I consider it much the same as hotdogs. You know that hotdogs are made with nothing but table scraps and pieces off the floor, but you still enjoy them nonetheless. The same goes for the TV show. I know this isn’t high end Shannara material, but I like the fantasy elements of the show, and it makes for fun popcorn viewing. Paramount does another good job with the Blu-ray release, and while I would have liked to see more extras, I am glad that they split the 10 episodes up onto 3 discs instead of the 2 of the first season. Worth a good watch if you’re a fantasy fan.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Austin Butler, Poppy Drayton, Manu Bennett
Creator: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Paramount
Rated: TV-14
Runtime: 484 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 15th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Solid Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Will see it once available on amazon prime or netflix.