I was born in the late 80's so I can say for sure that my judgement of this show is not clouded at all by any sense of nostalgia. With that in mind I feel able to judge without rose-tinted glasses.
Behind the 80's veneer, Stranger Things is an excellent mix of horror, sci-fi and drama, combining tight plotting and pacing, creepy and suspenseful scenes and wonderful acting.
The stars of the show are undoubtedly the kids. Between them they utterly convince as a gaggle of nerdy losers with dumb friendship rules, precocious crushes and lame jokes. But they also show impressive emotional depth when confronted with the loss of a friend.
Surprisingly for this kind of story, the kids are not the only ones doing anything about the threat. Plotlines about a group of teenagers looking for the monster and some adults uncovering the conspiracy run side by side, and these plots overlap and diverge as necessary. This ensures the story avoids throwing in pointless conflict and twists just to drag out the running time.
The teens start off very stereotypically, but after their world is shaken up by events they gradually morph into well-rounded characters.
The adults, mainly David Harbour and Winona Ryder, also impress. Some have criticised Ryder for an overly-hysterical performance but I found it very easy to empathise with her character and really feel the suffering she goes through.
If I had to be negative, I would say the CGI monster doesn't always live up to the menace surrounding it. The fact that it always seems to be obscured by flashing lights and shadows betrays how little confidence the directors had in their own creation. I wonder why they didn't call up noted creepy monster actor Doug Jones and slap some rubber on him, as it would have been a lot more convincing. In Season 2 while the 'Shadow Monster' looks otherworldly enough to be excused, its minions look particularly fake, especially as they get a lot more screen time than Season 1's creature. A real shame.
In addition, Season 2 feels more like an extension of Season 1 to me in terms of plot, more like "Season 1.5." While still great, I think Season 3 will need to come up with something other than 'We gotta save Will!' to keep it interesting.
Other than that, Stranger Things is an all-round brilliant piece of television and worth watching whether you know anything about the 80's or not.
So much more than a shallow nostalgia-fest.
I was born in the late 80's so I can say for sure that my judgement of this show is not clouded at all by any sense of nostalgia. With that in mind I feel able to judge without rose-tinted glasses.
Behind the 80's veneer, Stranger Things is an excellent mix of horror, sci-fi and drama, combining tight plotting and pacing, creepy and suspenseful scenes and wonderful acting.
The stars of the show are undoubtedly the kids. Between them they utterly convince as a gaggle of nerdy losers with dumb friendship rules, precocious crushes and lame jokes. But they also show impressive emotional depth when confronted with the loss of a friend.
Surprisingly for this kind of story, the kids are not the only ones doing anything about the threat. Plotlines about a group of teenagers looking for the monster and some adults uncovering the conspiracy run side by side, and these plots overlap and diverge as necessary. This ensures the story avoids throwing in pointless conflict and twists just to drag out the running time.
The teens start off very stereotypically, but after their world is shaken up by events they gradually morph into well-rounded characters.
The adults, mainly David Harbour and Winona Ryder, also impress. Some have criticised Ryder for an overly-hysterical performance but I found it very easy to empathise with her character and really feel the suffering she goes through.
If I had to be negative, I would say the CGI monster doesn't always live up to the menace surrounding it. The fact that it always seems to be obscured by flashing lights and shadows betrays how little confidence the directors had in their own creation. I wonder why they didn't call up noted creepy monster actor Doug Jones and slap some rubber on him, as it would have been a lot more convincing. In Season 2 while the 'Shadow Monster' looks otherworldly enough to be excused, its minions look particularly fake, especially as they get a lot more screen time than Season 1's creature. A real shame.
In addition, Season 2 feels more like an extension of Season 1 to me in terms of plot, more like "Season 1.5." While still great, I think Season 3 will need to come up with something other than 'We gotta save Will!' to keep it interesting.
Other than that, Stranger Things is an all-round brilliant piece of television and worth watching whether you know anything about the 80's or not.