When Lemony Snicket set the world on fire with her literary series A Series Of Unfortunate Events, a high bar was set come time for the eventual film adaptation. Unfortunately for Snicket and the countless fans of the series, the newly released Netflix series fell flat.

To be clear, the show wasn’t all bad. The home of Count Olaf, one of the story’s protagonists, was exactly how the literary series pictured it: As a gray and black pit of darkness, misplaced in a neighborhood of typical suburban homes and families. Aside from Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris), the show was impeccably casted. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire were all exactly who they were supposed to be: Gifted, resourceful and innocent children shocked at their “unfortunate” situation at the hands of a deadly fire the resulted in the deaths of their parents. However, the viewer only gets a glimpse of this sorrow, as most of the first book, The Bad Beginning, chronicles the children’s important journey of mentally moving on from the disaster. In terms of structure, each book in the series is broken into two episodes. In the film adaptation, the story is rushed to the climax, leaving the watcher unsatisfied and disappointed. Throughout the first eight episodes, the show carried an unusual and mislaid feel to it.

In the book, every situation the children move into is characterized as a gloomy, dark, and sorrowful hellscape. Usually, this setting would indicate the best genre for a film adaptation would be a drama, but instead, it feels more like a dragged out scene from Alice in Wonderland with a comedic twist, as each situation aside from the home of Count Olaf was too bright with vibrant colors, invoking a sense of false security. This throws off the viewer, as it at times seems like the directors are mocking the children’s situation.

The director miscast Neil Patrick Harris, who is a renowned comedic actor and was cast to play the deep, dark and cynical Count Olaf. The film series feels like it should be on stage as a musical, and not as a television series. Not to mention, Count Olaf is a self proclaimed actor, and there are multiple times in the thick of the plot where the scene stops for a colorful theatrical performance, which annoys the viewer in a time of high pressure, particularly in A Bad Beginning: Part 1 and The Miserable Mill: Part 2. Secondly, Lemony Snicket narrates every episode in a time of transition, which seems odd for a film series, but would be perfectly suitable for a musical performance. The series had so much potential based off the famed (and far superior) book series, but unfortunately, the director and crew disappointed Lemony Snicket and left the patient and eager fans of the true story disappointed.

Rating:

⭐⭐∙ ∙ ∙

2 out of 5 stars