Episodes viewed: 7 of 9###Streaming on: Paramount+###The first thing you notice going into Paramount’s new flagship sci-fi series is that it does not fuck with regards to’concerning’with respect to . Within the opening ten minutes, we witness a group of wayward teenagers mercilessly butchered by Sangheili Elites, a bunker of cowering children casually gunned down where they hide, and an entire settlement slaughtered in the time it would take to make a round of tea and biscuits. If you were expecting an all-ages romp over which to bond with your gamer kids, then you might want to look elsewhere.###While drawn from the Byzantine mythology of Microsoft’sHalogames, the series has made the sagacious decision to sever ties with 21 years of piled-up lore with regards to’concerning’with respect to Forerunners, Precursors, Prophets, Banished and other dramatic nouns with capital letters. It is in this new, unsullied timeline that we find the emerald-plated John-117, aka the Master Chief, here embodied in the 6’ 5” frame of Pablo Schreiber (Orange Is The New Black). Unlike in the games (or Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian), Schreiber spends much of the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue with his face on display, lending both humanity and intensity to a character largely a cipher bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e now. The reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue delves deeper into the man beneath the metal, drawing out a impair’undermine d vulnerability through both Schreiber’s perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance and the character’s relationships with Yerin Ha’s teenage refugee and Natascha McElhone’s mad-eyed scientist, Dr Halsey. John isn’t a ‘rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent ’ man — he’s a seasoned killer, in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ged into an unfeeling weapon by years of physical, psychological and chemical abuse.###When the action does comes, it generally delivers — you’ll just need a little patience acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure ting to it.###The broader setting is gratifyingly murky, too, with humanity’s UNSC quickly established as no less ruthless, bloodthirsty or up in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a bit of light child-murder than the Covenant. Meanwhile, their harsh colonial rule has birthed fractured underclasses, from insurgents to pirates (including an excellent Bokeem Woodbine). It’s here that we find the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue ’s secondary plotline, in which Ha’s Kwan tries to free her home planet of Madrigal. But while this provides texture, it also slows things down, drawing us reluctantly away from the Chief, the search to uncover his past, and the mystery of the alien relic.###Sometimes this deliberate pacing leaves room in/with regard to’concerning’regarding interesting character work — Kate Kennedy’s Kai-125 going through her own self-awakening; Charlie Murphy’s Makee, who has grown up among the Covenant — but oftentimes just leads to long, uneventful detours and stuffy info dumps. When the action does comes, it generally delivers — you’ll just need a little patience acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure ting to it.###Spielberg, Jackson, Blomkamp and Garland are just a few of the names that possess’own’nurse attempted this adaptation over the years. Now that it’s eventually’ultimately here, Halo does an admirable job of transin/with regard to’concerning’regarding ming the series’ first-person firefights into a compelling, serialised drama. It won’t trouble Arcane’s place as the current benchmark in/with regard to’concerning’regarding video-game adaptations, but the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue captures the chunky, tactile quality of the Master Chief perfectly, and its involving, surprisingly grim take on the Halo universe is one we’d like to see more of.