Series Review: Alex Rider TV Series

Title: Alex Rider

Adapted from: Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz

Writers/Directors: Guy Burt, Andreas Prochaska, Christopher Smith

Main Actors: Otto Farrant, Stephen Dillane, Vicky McClure, Andrew Buchan, Brenock O’Connor, Ronke Adekoluejo, Liam Garrigan, Ace Bhatti, Thomas Levin, Haluk Bilginer, Howard Charles, Nyasha Hatendi, Ana Ularu, Marli Siu

Release Date: 04 June 2020

Duration: 8 Episodes; each about 43-45 minutes long

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Thoughts:

Hello darling readers!

I’m so excited to review this series, so excited that I even binged the entirety of season 1 in one day! It was so well done and they stayed true to the books!

Characters and Cast:

The main character, Alex Rider, is played by Otto Farrant. I think that he’s a great choice for Alex (also compared to the Stormbreaker film) because he can be serious and focused at times, while goofy and light-hearted at other times. I think he did a great job with Alex!

Ronke Adekoluejo was great as Jack! She brought heart to a story where very few people can be trusted, while also caring about Alex without seeming overbearing. Her scenes seemed so calm and flowed easily. Tom (Brenock O’Connor) was a source of comic relief, and even though I don’t remember much of him from the books, his presence on screen alongside Alex was very welcome!

Vicky McClure (whom I recognized from Broadchurch) wasn’t someone I could imagine for Mrs. Jones but I was pleasantly surprised by her performance. She’s made the character into someone who I think is a good person, but is at times unable to show it in the environment she works in. I wish Alan Blunt (Stephen Dillane) got some more screen time; I felt like we saw very little from him.

I also wish we could have seen a bit more from Dr. Greif (Haluk Bilginer) and Eva Stellenbosch (played by Ana Ularu; the character might be from South Africa but I promise most of us are nice people) was as creepy as she was in the books! Smithers (Nyasha Hatendi) was a joy as always and I remembered that I actually liked Yassen (Thomas Levin) and I can’t wait to see how his story plays out! Honestly I can’t remember Kyra (Marli Siu) from the books, but her character stood out wonderfully!

Adaption of the story:

It makes my heart so happy that they stuck with the original story of Point Blanc and included all the necessary parts of the plot, while also throwing in some key events from Stormbreaker that were needed to understand the story.

It just shows that the adaptations need to stay true to the source material to become a success. (I’m looking at you Percy Jackson movie adaptions. PJ might get redemption after the Disney Plus series, but that’s another story.)

The pace remains steady all through the series and the atmosphere is well done and fitting. I liked that the story wasn’t focused on Alex the entire time and was also told from other characters’ perspectives!

Music and Stunts:

I love, love, loved the music in this series! Both the choice in music and the OST were well done and added well to the atmosphere. I’m not entirely sure who composed the OST, but I’ll find out someday!

As for stunts, they were well done and I wish there were more fight scenes!I know that this series is intended for all ages and wants to reach a wide demography, but I would have loved to see Alex kick some more butt!