Good omens

It took me a few weeks but I finally had the time to sit down and watch Good Omens on Amazon Prime.  I know you've probably heard this from at least one other person by now, but this show is damn near perfect.


I should start by telling you that I didn't read the book.  I actually don't like Neil Gaiman's writing style.  The last book of his that I attempted was American Gods (link to my review).  I love the concepts of his novels.  I just get bored with his work. I realize that given that I read almost exclusively fantasy novels at this point, you're probably screaming that I'm nuts and you can't take my word for anything.  To each their own.


I'm going to reiterate what you've already heard.  The casting is perfection.  If you didn't already love David Tennant because of Doctor Who, his Crowley may turn you on to his incredible performances. 


There are so many layers to this show that it's hard to pinpoint any one thing that stands out other than Tennant and Michael Sheen's performances as the angel and demon trying to save the world from the Antichrist. Through a series of misdirects, the Antichrist is not placed with the family that he is intended for.  Instead he grows up with a simple family in rural England.  As his 11th birthday approaches, he begins to come in to his power.


The network of Angels and Demons are all working towards the goal of the apocalypse and the great war between the two  factions. 


The scenes are beautiful, the dialogue is damn near perfect, and the casting (as mentioned before) is on point.


There were a couple of things that I didn't like about the show…it wasn't long enough. I know it's not meant to go on forever, but I didn't want it to end.  Speaking of the ending, it felt moderately anti-climatic considering everything else that happened up until that point.  This includes my disappointment in the four horsemen who seemed to be there just because you can't have the apocalypse without them.  And Death.  I felt like there was a chance to go big with casting death.  Christopher Plummer, Dick Van Dyke…instead we got a character actor who I had unfortunately never heard of.  While he did a great job, he was hidden under CGI and other effects.  I think it would have been fun to have him appear as a real person.


It's a wild six hour ride.  You've got to be open to the idea that God and the Devil, et al; are complex creations.  That sometimes a little humor is needed when talking about religion and creation, etc.  If you're a hardcore Christian who doesn't have any wiggle room in your belief system, you're going to have a bad time.

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