I'll give it to the producers of A.D. that the set work, the costumes, and the camera work, including the post-processing, make for some amazing imagery. This is a beautiful, visually breathtaking production. And the script of A.D. is definitely predisposed to illustrate the insecurities of mankind's establishments.
A.D. has been compared to House of Cards and Game of Thrones, presumably because of production value, script writing, and acting, and I suppose I can also see some parallels in how any story demonstrating insecurities of rulers and leaders can compare to those other shows. However, now that the first episode has been released, I'm a bit skeptical that the comparison is appropriate, as House of Cards and Game of Thrones both appear on advertisement-free cable television or Netflix, so the quality of script and pacing for those is not disrupted by so tight a viewing timeframe with each episode. Whereas, A.D.'s rushed pacing makes it a bland, shouty experience with little opportunity to delve into character development, except perhaps with Jesus's disciple Peter, who's portrayed as a bit of a mindlessly unstable schizophrenic, with Caiaphas, the Jewish leader who demanded Jesus's crucifixion, and with the Roman governor Pilate, who's portrayed with some odd and cliché melodrama as he argues with his wife.
Nowhere in any of this first episode, which quickly featured the crucifixion of Jesus within 10 minutes, was a single portrayal of Jesus' teachings portrayed. For anyone who is not familiar with the teachings of Jesus, having zero demonstrative hints of the backstory of who this man was and what he taught makes for a pretty meaningless crucifixion scene and honestly it makes the disciples look like a bunch of teary-eyed little alternate-worldview scamps running around that need to get cleaned up. I frankly find it difficult not to sit there and take the side of Caiaphas and Pilate when I imagine myself in the position of an uneducated unbeliever. All I'd ask for is five or ten minutes of one or two snippets of Jesus' sermons.
Instead, the best we get is Peter saying, "We're fishermen. Not fighters. We preach love." Or something like that. But for all the viewer knows, that's just this character's rough interpretation. We have no idea that he really was saying that this is what Jesus got at--that Jesus said, "You've heard it said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I tell you, if someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other cheek. If someone steals your cloak, don't deny him your tunic also." No, you get none of this, you just get a bunch of angry Roman and Jewish leaders and Jesus disciples literally freaking out, about what, we're not actually shown.
I do realize that "it's been done". And I'm relieved that at least "The Bible Continues" is part of the official name for this show, as it tells the viewer that this is "sequel material". And knowing that there's more to come I can forgive the re-casting. But for a watchable sequel show you don't continue without a "let's review" snippet to go over just a tidbit of backstory you need to know. But that's exactly what they left out. With the exception of the time shown on the cross, the portrayal of Jesus probably had 2 minutes of screen time, just long enough to keep quiet until confirming the claim of being the Messiah.
None of this was the first thing I noticed. The first thing I noticed was the pacing style. Dialogs play out like another rushed episode of CSI. No one has much of a chance to breathe, much less take more than a couple seconds to ponder and let the viewer empathize with a thoughtful beat. Disciples are realistically emotional, but there's zero character development to appreciate their pain; they might as well be kooks who lost their crazy leader.
The most "reflective" moment, during which Peter, Caiaphas, and Pilate are sitting around in introspection, their thoughts verbalized and echoing like the forced cliché that this method is, lasts a whopping 15 seconds or so combined before being interrupted by another earthquake. All we're missing is the "OOOOoooooommmmmm" musical sound effect that everyone uses in high energy screen "art".
All this to say, A.D. so far is a rush of a viewing experience, and not in a good way. I can only hope that the series will continue into less charted territory. There are meanwhile 2000 years of story in Christendom worth exploring beyond the deaths of the disciples and the fall of Jerusalem, most of which are probably not scoped within forthcoming episodes of this series because "The Bible Continues" as part of the title precludes stories not scoped to the context of the Bible.
A.D. has been compared to House of Cards and Game of Thrones, presumably because of production value, script writing, and acting, and I suppose I can also see some parallels in how any story demonstrating insecurities of rulers and leaders can compare to those other shows. However, now that the first episode has been released, I'm a bit skeptical that the comparison is appropriate, as House of Cards and Game of Thrones both appear on advertisement-free cable television or Netflix, so the quality of script and pacing for those is not disrupted by so tight a viewing timeframe with each episode. Whereas, A.D.'s rushed pacing makes it a bland, shouty experience with little opportunity to delve into character development, except perhaps with Jesus's disciple Peter, who's portrayed as a bit of a mindlessly unstable schizophrenic, with Caiaphas, the Jewish leader who demanded Jesus's crucifixion, and with the Roman governor Pilate, who's portrayed with some odd and cliché melodrama as he argues with his wife.
Nowhere in any of this first episode, which quickly featured the crucifixion of Jesus within 10 minutes, was a single portrayal of Jesus' teachings portrayed. For anyone who is not familiar with the teachings of Jesus, having zero demonstrative hints of the backstory of who this man was and what he taught makes for a pretty meaningless crucifixion scene and honestly it makes the disciples look like a bunch of teary-eyed little alternate-worldview scamps running around that need to get cleaned up. I frankly find it difficult not to sit there and take the side of Caiaphas and Pilate when I imagine myself in the position of an uneducated unbeliever. All I'd ask for is five or ten minutes of one or two snippets of Jesus' sermons.
Instead, the best we get is Peter saying, "We're fishermen. Not fighters. We preach love." Or something like that. But for all the viewer knows, that's just this character's rough interpretation. We have no idea that he really was saying that this is what Jesus got at--that Jesus said, "You've heard it said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I tell you, if someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other cheek. If someone steals your cloak, don't deny him your tunic also." No, you get none of this, you just get a bunch of angry Roman and Jewish leaders and Jesus disciples literally freaking out, about what, we're not actually shown.
I do realize that "it's been done". And I'm relieved that at least "The Bible Continues" is part of the official name for this show, as it tells the viewer that this is "sequel material". And knowing that there's more to come I can forgive the re-casting. But for a watchable sequel show you don't continue without a "let's review" snippet to go over just a tidbit of backstory you need to know. But that's exactly what they left out. With the exception of the time shown on the cross, the portrayal of Jesus probably had 2 minutes of screen time, just long enough to keep quiet until confirming the claim of being the Messiah.
None of this was the first thing I noticed. The first thing I noticed was the pacing style. Dialogs play out like another rushed episode of CSI. No one has much of a chance to breathe, much less take more than a couple seconds to ponder and let the viewer empathize with a thoughtful beat. Disciples are realistically emotional, but there's zero character development to appreciate their pain; they might as well be kooks who lost their crazy leader.
The most "reflective" moment, during which Peter, Caiaphas, and Pilate are sitting around in introspection, their thoughts verbalized and echoing like the forced cliché that this method is, lasts a whopping 15 seconds or so combined before being interrupted by another earthquake. All we're missing is the "OOOOoooooommmmmm" musical sound effect that everyone uses in high energy screen "art".
All this to say, A.D. so far is a rush of a viewing experience, and not in a good way. I can only hope that the series will continue into less charted territory. There are meanwhile 2000 years of story in Christendom worth exploring beyond the deaths of the disciples and the fall of Jerusalem, most of which are probably not scoped within forthcoming episodes of this series because "The Bible Continues" as part of the title precludes stories not scoped to the context of the Bible.