Released: 21st March 2024
Number of Episodes: 8
Where To Watch: Netflix
Created by: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo
Starring: Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Jess Hong, Alex Sharp and Benedict Wong
After missing out on a highly desired Star Wars project, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have partnered up with Alexander Woo to bring another major property to the small screen. The Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy had a lot of potential, but this Netflix adaptation leaves a lot to be desired.
The saga begins just as the book did, in the 1960s where a horrified Ye Wenjie (played by Zine Tseng as a teenager and Rosalind Chao as an adult) watches her father being beaten to death during China’s Cultural Revolution. Disillusioned with the human race, the gifted scientist soon comes into contact with an powerful alien race and willingly reveals the location of Earth. Flashing forward to the present day, a group of scientists, governmental officials and military personnel realise that an invasion will arrive in four-hundred years time and set out to prepare and preserve our species. The Three-Body Problem is a complex tale with many competing factions, historical timelines and an ever-encroaching threat. What we get in this adaptation is faithful but ultimately hollow. We cut back and forth between the 1960s and the present day as humanity slowly comes together to deal with the deadly threat. Many characters enter and exit the scene. Eight episodes doesn’t feel like enough to delve into the complex machinations of the book series; for example, the secret ship Judgement Day is quickly rushed through without much development. Despite hitting all the key moments in the novel, the series struggles to pull the audience in. At best, it does offer some intrigue in the early episodes alongside the characters coming to terms with oncoming destruction. In terms of immersion and depth, it could have been much better.
In a bid to provide a wider variety of characters from a western context, 3 Body Problem splits the characters of Wang Miao and Cheng Xin into several performances; none of them are outright bad, but this creative decision does dampen the connections. Liam Cunningham who previously worked with the showrunners, delivers solid work as always, portraying Thomas Wade with a great deal of ruthlessness and Benedict Wong is equally effective as Clarence Da Shi, a trusted operative. Most of the scientists are portrayed well with the friendship between Augustina Salazar (Eiza González) and Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) being well-done for the most part. However, this also reveals the show’s biggest problem; because we constantly shift between characters and the ways they fit into the narrative, we don’t get to know many of them very well. Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo), based on Luo Ji from the books, has a minor role at first, only to be shunted into a major set piece in the final episode. Alex Sharp brings a more emotional thread as the terminally ill Felix, but other roles don’t measure up. John Bradley, also returning from Game of Thrones, plays Jack Rooney who sticks out like a sore thumb despite a short appearance. His character relies too heavily on modern behaviours in a bid to connect with our current world. We don’t have much time to get invested in many of the characters and the ones that are given attention are often diluted by the onward march of the story.
With such an abstract and surreal premise, 3 Body Problem makes an admirable attempt at capturing the wider setting. As early as the first episode, the sky appears to glitch out as the aliens reveal their approach to the world and the premonitions of a countdown always hang over the leading scientists. Some effects do fare better than others; the distorted backgrounds and ticking clock are very well implemented for the most part, but the destruction of a major vessel at the halfway mark along with all hands looks rather wobbly. The virtual reality gaming sessions also feel half-baked at times, especially when large armies are rendered on screen. The music is passable, often relying on ambient pieces that highlight the sense of impending doom. If the series does get renewed for later seasons, the sci-fi visuals will need to deliver a much higher standard.
3 Body Problem has some high ambitions that fail to materialise in its first season. The characters are stretched too thin and the plot, despite having some intrigue at the start, fails to fully invest. This complex sci-fi drama needed far more attention to detail and this conversion falls well short of both the original books and the wider genre. You may get some enjoyment out of it if you follow Cixin Liu’s work; others will feel underwhelmed throughout.
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars (Mediocre)
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