Cinematography:
Mark PattenComposer:
Max RichterCast:
Tom Hardy, David Hayman, Jonathan Pryce, Oona Chaplin, Richard Dixon, Leo Bill, Edward Hogg, Ruby-May Martinwood, Jessie Buckley, Stephen Graham (more)VOD (2)
Episodes(8)
Plots(1)
Set in 1814, Taboo follows James Keziah Delaney (Tom Hardy), a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father's shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself. But his father's legacy is a poisoned chalice, and with enemies lurking in every dark corner, James must navigate increasingly complex territories to avoid his own death sentence. Encircled by conspiracy, murder and betrayal, a dark family mystery unfolds in a combustible tale of love and treachery. (FX Network)
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Reviews (6)
I was expecting a visually striking duly filthy Gothic horror-styled chamber atmospheric depressive movie emphasized by Max Richter, which will seemingly be about nothing but under the surface you would feel a subliminal "Conrad" tension. And Hardy who is longing for revenge and plotting all the time will be growling from the very beginning till the end (and doesn't slip into a parody of himself), supported by British theatre star (especially by Jonathan Pryce, of course). Which is exactly what I got. The problem is that it has material for an excellent four-part miniseries and not for eight-hour monotonous episodes. Slow pace is not the main issue. The issue is that the creators completely fail to justify the length, but at the same time it cannot be said that you get bored. They still offer enough quality in each episode (apart from the above, there are several phenomenal scenes in each episode) to find a good reason to start another episode. The question is whether that is enough, especially when in the ending it gets exactly to the point that the viewer expects from the first episode.| S1: 3/5 |
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I expected a bit more from this historical spectacle. Names like Tom Hardy and series creator Steven Knight promised a solid show, and with Ridley Scott as a producer, it seemed like it was going to be impressive. I really liked the mysterious atmosphere tinged with moments of intrigue, where as a viewer, you were unsure if the plot had veered into something resembling magic or witchcraft. On the acting front, I have no complaints; Tom Hardy was demonic in his role, his acting talent was almost terrifying at times, as I believed every bit of it (he really sold it). The rest of the cast didn’t lag behind and did not disappoint, especially Jonathan Pryce, who delivered his usual solid performance. The biggest downside for me was probably the pace of the series; it drags, particularly in the first half, and I expected a more impactful ending. From an action perspective, the series is technically convincing, with a few brutal knife attacks and an impressive shootout at the end. I’m not disappointed, not at all. But I do think it had the potential to reach absolute greatness. It still definitely deserves a solid 7.5/10.
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If Tom Hardy didn’t stretch the entire story of Taboo through his broody and strange character ad infinitum, the eight episodes of the TV show could be squeezed into a proper two-hour movie and it would have made for a solid and bleak event from Victorian England. The way things are I do admit that this show has its moments that are great, but there are also scenes that I could happily do without. Tom Hardy’s acting is really hard to define, but through this character he presents the absolute essence of how he works on the screen. With no emotions, rough and serious, which I think is a pity sometimes. Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to portray an ordinary character who could match the average and ordinary life of every one of us. What can you do – Taboo is not like that and maybe that’s what makes it so interesting. But despite its being interesting, I do not know whether I can watch another season of this. I didn’t have to wait for the end of the season for another six episodes, but I could have watched the first episode and then immediately the last one and it would have been the same. We’ll see, I may force myself to watch season two.
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Mission Impossible: Nation of Crooks. Delaney is a 19th-century Ethan Hunt. If it weren't for Tom Hardy's great performance of compressing emotions into monosyllabic interjections, all those coincidences and supernatural motifs (often masking the careless interconnectedness of certain events) would be rather annoying. However, the combination of a dilapidated expedition, skin and dental diseases, a bad version of Breaking Bad and a whole host of cute details make for very good (slow) entertainment. If it weren't so bound by pretending to be a serious historical storyline and it was thrown straight into pure steampunk, it would be pure well-being. Hmmmm... I’ll take it.
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A grubby environment where we find a half-crazy, but also very clever Tom Hardy striding along swallows you up. I am intrigued about the histories of the separate characters. The mysteriousness that the creators work on works just as it should. IT has allure, but doesn’t spend time concentrating on unnecessary details. I look forward to seeing how things pan out.
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