The Legend of Vox Machina Review: Final Review of The Prime Video Series A Mix Of Elements Destined To Surprise

Stars: Marisha Ray, Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe

Director: Young Heller, Alicia Chan, Stanley Von Medvey, Sung Jin Ahn

Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video (click to watch)

Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

No fantasy role-playing game can boast the success achieved over the years by Dungeons & Dragons, conceived by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Spread all over the world, this has over time become a real franchise, also expanding to literature, video games and the audiovisual world. Precisely in this last context, starting from 2015, the Critical Role web series has achieved great success, whose first campaign lasted until 2017 with 115 episodes. The story told in it has now been adapted into an animated series called The Legend of Vox Machina, conceived by Matthew Mercer and directed by Sung Jin Ahn.

The Legend of Vox Machina Review: The Story

The series begins the narrative before the group’s campaign began to be broadcast online, and then adapts one of the main adventures of the beginning of the web series and continues adapting the various arches. The protagonists of the first 12 episodes are therefore Vex’ahlia, Percival, Pike, Vax’ildan, Keyleth, Scanlan and Grog, an apparently mismatched band of mercenaries but rich in magical powers and team spirit. In a world where dangers are the order of the day, the seven, known as the Vox Machina, particularly find themselves having to face a group of invincible creatures ready to unleash the chaos of hell on earth.

With these premises, one is therefore brought into the fantastic world of Exandria, a context that has all the typical characteristics of fantasy. A little Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings, a little Dreamland from Disenchantment (another animated fantasy series with much in common with The Legend of Vox Machina), this place does not seem to present any distinctive novelties. These, in fact, are to be found in the seven protagonists, the real heart of the series. The strength of the series is built on them, the story told is built on their past, their value as a group is forged on their defects.

To be primary in the Dungeons & Dragons game are the characters, built by composing very different races, powers and characteristics. Likewise, the seven protagonists of The Legend of Vox Machina have all the attention and, uncommonly, manage to immediately establish themselves as iconic. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, each their own powers, each their own demons to face. Everyone is strongly charismatic. They are an extremely diverse group, with whom it is easy to empathize from their presentation. Proceeding in the narration, moreover, their personal history is adequately deepened, thus allowing an even deeper immersion in the vicissitudes they go through.

And this is where an easy comparison comes into play with the Disenchantment series, present on Netflix instead. Thanks to the characters, both titles have an irreverent comedy that goes in contrast with the context, faced too often with great seriousness. The protagonists of The Legend of Vox Machina, on the other hand, are designed to be genuinely fun, always in the right ways and times. The first two episodes, in this regard, are to be understood as their complete introduction, which allows you to immediately identify all their essential characteristics, which will then be the same for the entire series itself.

The Legend of Vox Machina Review and Analysis  

However, we must not think that this new animated series is a continuous alternation of comedy and action. With the succession of the episodes and the focus on the main story, there are many tones that The legend of Vox Machina shows off. In fact, you will come across deeply dramatic situations, others particularly horrific and splatter, while in more situations you will feel real fear for what can happen to the protagonists. This first season, therefore, presents within its multiple atmospheres, coherently amalgamated so that there is not too much a clear difference between one and the other.

In addition to this, it is important to underline that the vision of the series is not in the least compromised by not having followed the web series or by not knowing how the role-playing game works. The creators, in fact, took care to create a product that can also be used by those not familiar with the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Addressing a wide audience, The Legend of Vox Machina therefore represents a worthy response to the many adult animated titles released by Netflix. Perhaps the animation used will not be the most stunning or innovative, but it certainly finds compensation with the rich narrative material on offer.

Obliterating the perspectives of fans, the Amazon Prime Video show proves on multiple occasions that it has enormous potential that is just waiting to be exploited. Making the most of the interpretations of its protagonists, rendered with minutiae also in the Italian adaptation, this series initially conceived as an exclusive operation for nerds manages to evolve into a universal product, demonstrating with wit how much dynamism and possibility the mixture of genres and different moods. The show is currently unique on the television scene and could easily open the doors to productions hitherto ignored by the majors. The importance of clearing customs a “forge” of storytelling such as that of the RPG should in no way be underestimated .in the eyes of the public. This would be an epochal turning point and deserving of the utmost attention.

As we have extensively mentioned in our special on The Legend of Vox Machina, such a work would be the perfect viaticum to bring the fantasy and magic of Dungeons & Dragons to the eyes of the general public. That is, the vision of the work would allow many to understand the importance of creative and authorial freedom in a context in which anyone can be free to explore their own imagination. The perfect adaptability of the role-playing game to wider narrative formats is a subject already known, but Critical Role has managed to put together a know-how of great impact in every respect of production. Faced with such a well-thought-out operation, imbued with passion since its conception, one can only hope for a total reversal aimed at unhinging the foundations of a genre that absolutely needed freshness.

The Legend of Vox Machina Review: The Last Words

The Legend of Vox Machina takes full advantage of the benefits of a high-budget production and is exalted thanks to interpretations of the highest level, creating a mix of elements destined to surprise. Through a compelling and engaging narrative, the show allows you to rediscover characters already known or to appreciate them for the first time through the magic that only role-playing can convey.