Mini Series Review: Sons of Liberty
Whenever a new historical drama (or sometimes comedy) comes along, there are always those who nitpick and say its not historically accurate. And there are those that enjoy a good drama, historical or otherwise and appreciate the storytelling for what it is - a story.
To the former, I would say, find a documentary and watch that, and to the latter, I would say - watch Sons of Liberty because it is the best historical drama I have watched in a while.
The story starts in 1765, a full eleven years before the words 'declaration' and 'independence' were used in the same sentence to mean something significant - so already we're looking at an old story in a new way.
That's something that will never get old - no matter which historical event (or person) you look at, there are at least three or more different sides you can take and probably more ways of using them in a story to make it fluid enough to make some sense.
With this one, the familiar names are all here, Sam and John Adams, John Hancock, George Washington, General Gage, Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, Ben Franklin and another plus is that they are being portrayed by mostly small little known names - which means they all have a chance to show how well they can essentially disappear into these famous roles.
Ben Barnes especially, as the leader of them all, English but you wouldn't know it, watching him in this. Henry Thomas, Rafe Spall, Jason O'Mara, Marton Csokas, Michael Raymond-James, Ryan Eggold and Dean Norris - all of them portray their roles with such conviction, considering the times that the people occupied, its not surprising. Supporting cast, Diarmaid Murtagh, Kevin Ryan and Sean Gilder, also give it their all.
Another great part, is the pacing. Understandably, they can't put all of it in, eleven years is a long time by anyone's reckoning and the writers do a excellent job in selecting the best bits and adding character focus in to keep it all moving along nicely.
This is not just a drama, but also a thriller.
A mark of how well you are entertained by something like this, is how tense you are, even though you may know the sequence of events better than anyone - you are still kept on the edge of your seat, from beginning to end. Something helped along by the direction and the score, both of which are very well done.
This is a mini-series, three episodes - but considering that SBS have stretched them to six, I have officially watched one episode and a half. And I'm still very much looking forward to the next.
To the former, I would say, find a documentary and watch that, and to the latter, I would say - watch Sons of Liberty because it is the best historical drama I have watched in a while.
The story starts in 1765, a full eleven years before the words 'declaration' and 'independence' were used in the same sentence to mean something significant - so already we're looking at an old story in a new way.
That's something that will never get old - no matter which historical event (or person) you look at, there are at least three or more different sides you can take and probably more ways of using them in a story to make it fluid enough to make some sense.
With this one, the familiar names are all here, Sam and John Adams, John Hancock, George Washington, General Gage, Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, Ben Franklin and another plus is that they are being portrayed by mostly small little known names - which means they all have a chance to show how well they can essentially disappear into these famous roles.
Ben Barnes especially, as the leader of them all, English but you wouldn't know it, watching him in this. Henry Thomas, Rafe Spall, Jason O'Mara, Marton Csokas, Michael Raymond-James, Ryan Eggold and Dean Norris - all of them portray their roles with such conviction, considering the times that the people occupied, its not surprising. Supporting cast, Diarmaid Murtagh, Kevin Ryan and Sean Gilder, also give it their all.
Another great part, is the pacing. Understandably, they can't put all of it in, eleven years is a long time by anyone's reckoning and the writers do a excellent job in selecting the best bits and adding character focus in to keep it all moving along nicely.
This is not just a drama, but also a thriller.
A mark of how well you are entertained by something like this, is how tense you are, even though you may know the sequence of events better than anyone - you are still kept on the edge of your seat, from beginning to end. Something helped along by the direction and the score, both of which are very well done.
This is a mini-series, three episodes - but considering that SBS have stretched them to six, I have officially watched one episode and a half. And I'm still very much looking forward to the next.
This quote comes from another new take on an old story, where once again - the main character is being portrayed by a Brit.
ReplyDelete“General Swanwick: How can we trust you?
Superman: General, I grew up in Kansas.”