We took some time to look into The Sentinels, new original creation from Canal+. Our gaze is surely too focused on our dear streaming platforms, that we forget that made in France also has enough to puff out our chests in the face of the competition. Just less often perhaps. But when it came to choosing between rewatching The Seventh Son – which we found unconvincing at the time – or launch the three available episodes of the baby of Guillaume Lemans, Xabi Molla and Raphaëlle Richetwe didn’t hesitate for long.
Especially since if the neophyte does not see in The Sentinels that one steampunk series in the middle of World War I (which is already not bad), the fan was waiting for this production like the French are waiting for the next presidential election. It must be said that this adaptation of the eponymous comic strip by Xavier Dorison and Enrique Breccia took more than ten years to give birth. Originally, a feature film project was talked about at the end of the publication of the 4 volumes of the comic strip. Except that the budgetary cost scared everyone. Canal had to join the race, reworking the subject in series form, so that The Sentinels sees the light of day. But is it a beautiful baby?
The Sentinels synopsis
While the war rages in the trenches, soldier Gabriel Ferraud is seriously injured. Disfigured and disabled, he agrees to participate in a secret French army project aimed at creating soldiers augmented by a strange serum.
He is now stronger, more enduring, faster. A deadly weapon that joins a squad of augmented soldiers like him, The Sentinels. But this has a Price, he is now considered to have died in combat, including for his wife. The Sentinels will quickly discover that the German army also has an ace up its sleeve.
A series that stands out in the landscape
Before detailing what the series does or doesn’t do well – because that’s what we’re here for after all – there is one point that we think is important to highlight. The Sentinels deserves to be a success for what it represents. If Canal+ has never been afraid of producing period series with a certain cachet, it’s good to see that we can also have such ambitious steampunk works. Even if they are imperfect, they represent what we are also capable of doing in France in a genre which is very rare, even in cinema, because it is often expensive and unprofitable. So yes, there will always be things to improve, however, these productions blow a significant fresh wind that we like to support.
Besides, The Sentinels demonstrate quite quickly that she is not here to laugh with an introductory sequence in the trenches. There was no better idea to directly install the anxiety-inducing atmosphere of the show. Because although many scenes take place in the open, we constantly have a feeling of claustrophobiasupported by the equipment of these super soldiers. Like its hero trapped – by his isolation, his loss of control… – we have the impression that there will be no escape from the horror that will follow.
The action is neat and the show is not afraid to indulge in a surplus of violence to add to the nightmare. The series has ingested its references and we are almost between Captain America First Avenger et Overlord. The comic book fan may nevertheless be very upset against the narrative choice of modifying the original properties of the hero by preferring the mutant serum to a much more approach RoboCop of the thing. Lack of money or desire to get closer to more selling superheroes? Who knows.
It is undeniable that The Sentinels a a neat aesthetic and that it manages to recreate a more than effective period atmosphere. Decor, costume, casting, nothing was left to chance. It is a unique work in the landscape and it does good. However, we recognize that it suffers from a certain irregularity.
A irregularity in interpretation Already. Although the actors are visibly invested on screen, the lack of thickness of certain characters and dialogues sometimes too unnatural lead to several false notes, to varying degrees. A talent can be convincing one scene, then slip through the cracks the next scene. It must be said that the cast is rather rich and that from what we have seen so far, it is difficult to offer sufficient development to everyone. Likewise, it’s hard to be, after three episodes, captivated by all the subplots. As if something always rang a little false while the show is full of qualities and good intentions.
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But we will be careful not to make a premature final judgment whileit remains to Sentinels 5 episodes to prove to us that we were wrong to doubt. That’s all we’re asking and we’ll be there in the coming weeks.
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