Comic fans were allowed to dream for a while. About the fact that the right form of cinematic implementation has finally been found for Neil Gaiman’s legendary “The Sandman” in the serial cosmos. Of screenwriter and producer David S. Goyer (“Dark Knight” trilogy, “Agent Nick Fury”) salvaging the good run he had with “Foundation” for AppleTV over to Netflix. And the dream of a streaming provider that, for once, frees itself from the compulsion to please everyone.
At the latest with today’s release of the ten episodes of the first season, one has to state – at least for fans of the complex and pop-culturally influential Gaiman cosmology: This dream is over.
And not because “The Sandman” strays too far from the template. On the contrary: along the comic chapters of “Preludes & Nocturnes” and “The Doll’s House” the story is told almost slavishly how the lord of dreams has to reconquer his dream kingdom after being imprisoned for decades and protect the world from nightmares gone wild and his siblings. Comparisons of comic panels and series excerpts should prove that hardly a line and dialogue had been changed here.
Gaiman himself never tired of expressing his enthusiasm about casting decisions and the end result in the media. Despite this, the entire world remains strangely alien, at least to those familiar with the template(s). A cosplay interface that rarely gives us a glimpse into the depths.
Salvador Dali Memory Dream Worlds
As a slightly too attractive emo dreamboy, Tom Sturridge wanders through real scenarios and terribly artificial Salvador Dali memory dream worlds. Gwendoline Christie has a slightly more important role as Lucifer than in the original (e.g. when, unlike in the “Preludes”, she personally fights Morpheus). And demon hunter John Constantine quickly becomes his female ancestor Joanna (probably because DC is currently planning its own “Constantine” series).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh2ieN4V5Hg
That’s right: Diversity is very important in this implementation. And it fits the spirit of the “Sandman” to rob a good half of the staff of their “white” roots and to emphasize non-binary aspects more. But it smells badly of concessions to a quickly bored mainstream audience when the nightmarish Corinthians (Boyd Holbrook) has to be built into a major antagonist right from the start instead of only in the second half. When the female protagonist Rose Walker is given an attractive girlfriend instead of his own mother, the raven Matthew (voiced by Patton Oswalt in the original) is incorporated (much too) early as a comic relief and the Sandman sometimes even smiles mildly possible happy ending. Not to mention the superimposed cliffhanger towards the second season.
It’s a bit fantasy mass-produced
What remains is a fantasy series like Netflix is currently producing by the dozen. Somewhere between “Supernatural”, “Locke & Key” and “Charmed” and as such a probably entertaining emo fairy tale, at least for the obviously targeted target group between 16 and 26. Because let’s be honest: With the very loud but certainly not oversized fan base of a comic classic that is over 30 years old, the share price of a fluctuating streaming giant cannot be driven up.
That’s a pity, especially because what this “Sandman” could have been flashes again and again: Especially in the gothic-horror-like prelude and with those two episodes that can definitely be watched and appreciated separately as stand-alone stories : The shocking fifth episode “24/7” about the nihilistic goings-on of John Dee, brilliantly played by David Thewlis. And – immediately following – “The Sound of Her Wings”, in which we can experience an almost warm-hearted trip through the centuries in addition to the introduction of Morpheus’ sister Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste).
More of that – and less unconvincingly tricked afterlife clutter – would have done the “Sandman” good. But the dream of an all-round successful implementation remains one for which you have to fall back on the much more convincing radio play adaptation from Audible.
All ten episodes of “The Sandman” from 05.08. at Netflix.
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