Preacher

If I hadn’t read the comics, I'd be packing it in after three episodes because few things boldly take such a viewer-unfriendly narrative structure and work with it through ten episodes, only to coalesce at the end into a functionally constructed, epic, and distinctive adaptation that relies on events that happened before Dillon started drawing, yet also takes into account everything Ennis had in mind when doing the writing. Rogen & Goldberg have my admiration for not taking the easiest approach, but for instead charting a path to a thoughtful adaptation that can realize its potential in an unprecedented breadth only perhaps in Watchmen, which perhaps only bravely offered itself on the big screen in Watchmen. (04.08.2016)

The original is essentially a action-packed neo-western road-movie loaded with one-liners which is full of explicit scenes like showing spinal fluid, exposed breasts or insult of all the saints. And it is the masterpiece of Garth's "Tarantino comic book" Ennis from a time when he was not yet a ridiculous parody of himself as he is today. However, under the guise of all that seemingly (only seemingly I) obvious controversy, cheap sex, and meaningless violence, it was very disrespectful towards all the religions and for several years has been developing a complex story with central multi-layered characters about the crisis of faith and hypocrisy in each of us. And that's why it's pretty brave to come up with a much more moderate adaptation, which in the first season is supposed to be just a prequel to the events from the opening part of the original and will take place in Texas. In any case, it seems that it is conceived very loosely on the motives of the comic book, but essentially absolutely accurate in terms of the spirit of the original. And that is the most important thing. One-liners and black humor work, the action is nice and physical. Moderation is noticeable compared to the original and is actually welcome (after all, what worked in the ninety-page comic book with a stylized drawing does not necessarily look the same in a realistic fiction two decades later). The movie is fully aware that the whole thing, despite the tempting tinsel, will be mainly dependent on the characters, so you will like the perfectly chosen cast very much... The potential is therefore huge and, thanks to the time lag, even the flaws of the original could be corrected (especially the excessive level of everything in later episodes in the form of supernal troubles or global conspiracies hidden inside other conspiracies), the authors are obviously daring enough, so the adaptation follows its own path, which could potentially be better than the legendary original. (10.02.2022)

Pilot: The Preacher from the serial can’t be treated as an ordinary retelling of the comic book story about a pissed-off preacher, Jessie Custer, who finds out one day that God has given up on human kind and left heaven headed somewhere else. Cigarette in mouth, the preacher hisses something about responsibility for our creation and sets off to kick His ass and force Him to look after us as He used to. The serial is more like a guy tidied away as a priest, trying to escape his past (which is more the opposite in the comic). The Irish vampire, Cassidy, who accompanies him on his journey is more similar to his comic book version. Gilgun is excellently cast and his introduction was probably the best moment of the entire opening. That’s probably the main reason why I want to continue watching. But Tulip, oh dear, Tulip - that’s a different story again. I could get over the fact that she changed from beautiful blonde to unremarkable brunette. But what is missing is any chemistry between her and Jessie. I admit that there haven’t have much time for that yet, but it seemed weird to me. I’m intrigued to find out how the creators deal with this. For a comic book beginner, this is a breath of fresh air in the world of series. And I miss the flowery language of the comic book it was based on. Luckily, Irish swearing is still allowed. (25.05.2016)