Arcane Act 1 Review: Netflix’s League of Legends spin-offs are amazing
The curse of video game movies and TV derivatives was completely broken, and Netflix’s Arcane brought a fatal blow.
Considering that the arcane world of League of Legends is a kaleidoscope composed of different fantasy and sci-fi scenes, the iconic League of Legends champion can become a stealth ninja in one second, and a global pop music sensation in the next second. This is not The place where you expect to watch exciting political dramas about two cities on the cusp of war. The otherworldly champion of League of Legends does not seem to be the right soil for emotional character development. But this is also part of the reason Arcane is so magical—and its extraordinary hand-painted aesthetics. It ignored expectations.
If you are not a fan of League of Legends-or even if you actively despise it-Arcane is still something you should look at. It is not affected by complicated legends or timeline pranks like Netflix’s “Witcher”. That’s because Arcane is not the champion of the League of Legends, but the ordinary people of their past. In this way, Arcane reflects many superhero origin stories, such as Christopher Nolan’s Batman Beginning. It is also better. There are epic battle scenes, chemical mutations, and magic to tear reality, but unlike many superhero movies, Arcane also has a human nature that makes it particularly exciting.
The series can be viewed on Netflix and is divided into three acts, each containing three episodes. The first act will be broadcast today on November 6th, and the rest will be broadcast every Saturday until November 20th. If there are any signs in the first act, Arcane will be a journey to hell.
Family affairs
The story tells the story of two sisters, Vi and Powder, who live in a dry slum on the edge of the gleaming and prosperous city of Piltover. As a mecca of science, Piltworth is the dream of nobles and scholars. But this city has a dark underside-literally. On the other side of a wide river is the Undercity, a chemical wasteland full of villains, wanderers, and Piltoff trash.
However, the frequent outbreaks of violence between the slums of Piltworth and the slums of the Undercity are more than just background plots. In the first scene of the first episode, Wei and her sister found the bodies of their parents in the remains of a violent clash between the residents of Undercity and the Piltworth police. It was a gloomy scene that set the tone for the next few episodes.
One thing I like about Arcane is its rhythm. After that cold introduction, as Vi, Powder and two other orphans sneaked into Piltworth and carried out a bold robbery, we moved forward for a few more years. Things will go wrong naturally, triggering a chain reaction, not only may tear Piltoff and Undercity to pieces, but it may also tear Weihefen’s adopted family to pieces.
By the second episode, with the appearance of Jess, Victor, and several other famous league champions, the scope of arcane arts has been greatly expanded. Blinded by idealism and ambition, these two Piltwoff scholars are trying to harness the power of magic through science. This was a dangerous attempt that initially aroused the anger of Piltwoff’s governing body, which was led by the cute and quirky Hemerdinger, a small animal wearing a monocle, like Iraq. Same as Walker.
As the scope continues to expand, it will soon become clear that Arcane is more than just two street rats trying to survive in a cruel world. This is a multi-dimensional story that easily dances between the intimate character portraits of Vi and Powder, huge highly fantasy political dramas, and shabby police and robber crime thrillers. All this is moving towards a climax that is both intense and terrifying.
At the risk of destroying it, I won’t say too much about the third episode, but its success is largely due to how Arcane enriches its role. You would think that League of Legends champions like Vi and Powder would steal every scene (and they would definitely try), but I was surprised by the degree of attachment to Arcane’s other characters, especially Vander. He is a type of character you may have seen before: the image of a pensive father begins to succumb under the weight of his responsibility not only to his city, but also to Vi, Powder, and the other orphans he has adopted.But because Arcane explores Van der’s motives and backstory so carefully, it’s difficult no To care about him. Therefore, even if sometimes I can guess the waiting tragedy, it does not deprive those scenes of the emotional focus.
Even if Arcane’s emotional core is not on the same level as your connection, I encourage anyone to watch it just for animation. Riot’s collaboration with French animation studio Fortich provided some amazing trailers, but Arcane reached a level I had never seen before in a big budget movie made by DreamWorks or Pixar. The hand-painted art is gorgeous and evocative, and cleverly uses lighting to create amazing contrast effects—especially in the neon green of Undercity. Just as importantly, the 3D modeling of the characters is very expressive, which helps sell tragic moments.Arcane looks damn good Cool. Each scene is luxurious, and each character design is unique. Aside from the story, Arcane is an amazing 3D animation work.
It is also a pleasant motivation. In an early fighting scene, Wei, Fan and two friends are dragged into a vicious fight with some hostile street children. It was a chaotic fight, full of slow motion close-ups of the fist breaking the nose and the face twisting comically when the knee and elbow hit hard. This is also a precursor to a more intense and high-risk contest.
Between these battles, the quiet moments when Vi and Powder combine, and the boiling tension after their ill-fated robbery, I don’t have much do not Like arcane.My biggest complaint is that I want the relationship between Piltworth and Undercity to be more clear, because it’s not always clear. why There is too much blood between the two cities. However, this is a small complaint, especially when there are six episodes left in the series, and there is more time to explore these characters and the conflicts they involve.
Honestly, I can’t wait. The first act of Arcane successfully accomplished many things that fantasy and sci-fi series failed to do. It is introducing us to a complex new world while keeping a close eye on those who make this world worthy of attention. League of Legends fans rejoiced: The first three episodes of Arcane are very exciting.