Netflix continues its massive reign of dropping great new original-content shows. Almost monthly now it seems, always something new and completely different. This month their big drop was The Umbrella Academy, based on the Dark Horse Comics series by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá. The plot revolves around a dysfunctional family of adopted sibling superheroes who reunite to solve the mystery of their father’s death, and the threat of an impending apocalypse. But that’s really just what’s on the surface. What’s beneath is an amazing new interpretation of the comic, with great acting, wonderful special effects and amazing characters. This is worth your time and just fantastic from the first episode to the last.
The plot revolves around October 1,1989, where 43 women from around the world gave birth simultaneously, despite none of them every becoming pregnant until labor began. Seven of these children were adopted by billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves and turned these children into a superhero team called The Umbrella Academy: Luther, Allison, Klaus, Diego, Ben, Vanya and number Five who never took a name. Vanya is kept apart from her siblings as she seemingly has no powers of her own.
In the present day, Luthor is an astronaut, Allison is a famous actress, Vanya is a violinist, Diego is a vigilante, Klaus is a drug addicted party animal, Ben is a ghost who can only talk with Klaus, and Number Five is missing. They gather for their “father’s” funeral, where Five returns with warnings that they’re all seven days from an imminent global apocalypse. All this is going on as all the siblings, who pretty much hate each other, try to work though all their own issues, uncover family secrets, and try stop the apocalypse.
Each character is well written, full of three dimensions and full arcs. You understand each one’s motivations and who they are, which is a credit to the writing and the great acting. You can’t turn away from what’s happening on the screen. These are all amazing actors who are great and know their craft inside and out. Even the kid actors are worthy of a mention. They’re not in the series a whole lot, but when they make an appearance it’s welcome.
Ellen Page as Vanya, Tom Hopper as Luther, David Castaneda as Diego, Robert Sheehan as Klaus, Aidan Gallagher as Number Five, Emmy Raver-Lampman as Allison and Justin H. Min as Ben: each is equally amazing, and all have their own episodes and moments that make you understand their characters. The show is a massive ensemble cast and all work together perfectly. Due to the show’s length and the huge cast I will only highlight some of the actors below.
Ellen Page is wonderful as Vanya, who is the pretty much the “everyday man” character, who leads us into the strange world of the Academy. She is meek, soft and little bit sad. Page make you feel all Vanya’s vulnerabilities and you see who she is. Tom Hopper plays Luther, known as Number One, the leader of the team. The character in the comics is part ape due to a scientific experiment gone wrong. Here the show does a passable version of that using a prosthetic suit that looks ape-like, giving him the impression of large body. Hopper works well with the prosthetic and you fully believe he is somehow part ape.
After Number Five’s return you find out he went to the future and there was part of a time Commission, an agency that kept tabs on the timeline and figures out who threatens it. He eventually betrays them and in doing so returns to modern day, causing the Commission to send two contract killers after him: Cameron Britton as Hazel and Mary J. F**king Blige as Cha-Cha. Britton is most known for playing the role of serial killer Ed Kemper in Netflix’s Mindhunter. He is just as good here as he was in that show. But he is overshadowed by the powerhouse performance by Blige. She comes in like a wrecking ball and kills it! She is amazing in this role. She demands you watch what she’ll do next on the screen.
For a Netflix show with a smaller budget than most huge comics book movies, the filmmakers manage to pull off some amazing special effects. The sets are large and amazing. The Academy is a whole city block, full of amazing rooms, each more fantastical than the last, all holding their own secrets within. The best effect of the show would be the character of Pogo: a chimpanzee and Sir Reginald’s closest assistant. He is a walking and talking chimp that wears a suit that is classy AF. Pogo knows all the secrets within the home and is trying his best not to interfere with his instructions from Sir Reginald, played by Colm Feore. Pogo is there to make sure Sir Reginald’s plan that he has concocted goes ahead as planned. This is made very difficult by the drama of each of the six main characters.
I don’t want to ruin anything in walking readers though the show episode by episode, so I’ll leave you with these thoughts: this show is great! All ten episodes are fantastic. Once you start one…settle in, cause you’re there until you finish the season.
