Dominion (2014)

It still has a lot of work to do, but with care, Dominion has the potential to grow into something special.

SyFy routinely demonstrates that today’s tricks have gotten too easy, which is why Dominion feels like it is unintentionally telling a separate story of a world in which humanity is held captive by quickie CGI.

When Dominion isn’t preoccupied with filling in its portentous back story, it provides some capably filmed action and a higher grade of acting than usual for this kind of show.

Dominion is dark, and the angels portrayed here are scary--not the heavenly do-gooders we’ve come to know them as through other media. Based on the pilot episode, good has a long way to go before it can overcome evil--if that’s even possible.

Dominion will never be confused with sophisticated TV but in its pilot episode, the only episode made available for review, it’s surprisingly more entertaining and a better yarn than plenty of other Syfy efforts.

Dominion perhaps has the makings of a passable post-apocalyptic tale. But it can also be over-wrought and half-baked, with a premise that never really delivers any of the implied biblical goods.

Nothing on this futuristic landscape stands out: the performances, the dialogue, the direction, the special effects. The premise is solid enough. Yet everything constructed on this foundation seems to have been fashioned from nothing more substantial than cardboard.

As the Chosen One, Egan is blond and bland. Dale and Head do well playing against type. As the Big Bad of the piece, Gabriel appears for perhaps 40 seconds of the 90-minute premiere and is still the most interesting character here.

Maybe the Thursday pilot's portentous whispers in candle-lighted spaces will seem less pretentious and more profound as Dominion moves past initial exposition from a cast trying not to sound like they're from all over the planet.

Ce machin est une sorte de suite du nanar Légion de 2010, lequel faisait à peine son heure et demi syndicale, ce qui rendait déjà plus supportable sa médiocrité assez consternante, malgré évidemment le sujet toujours fascinant des anges très vindicatifs… Cette série a donc étiré une suite qui se passe à Las Vegas (c’est complètement con comme idée) et s’étire sur deux saisons à la con. Rien que le pilote s’étire lui aussi sur presque une heure et demi et les épisodes suivants continuent de creuser le filon à inepties jusqu’à l’infini et au delà… C’est bien sûr tout à fait ridicule, très poussif et plein de bavardages soporifiques alors qu’un trop plein de conneries bricolées par des scénaristes drogués et alcooliques a vite fait de nous gaver considérablement. Dans ces conditions décidément lamentables, il nous impossible de poursuivre le visionnage de cette série de merde ! on tire la chasse et on passe à autre chose.

Why do they allow "critics" to have a voice, are they paid to allow them to have a voice, it is truly insane how many shows have tremendous user ratings and low critic scores, i thoroughly enjoyed the series i wish they kept it going.

This series is a rate treat, and gets 10 out of 10 for audacity and sheer cussedness. Of course it was cancelled after two season (often a mark of failure - here a symptom of greater ambition that TV screens at the time could accommodate). There was a petition by fans to renew it or at least complete it with a movie, but to be honest, even in its incomplete form, if you like theological fiction with an overlay of Manichean struggle (and martial arts sequences specifically developed to model the fighting style of angels who use their wings as extra limbs) - you owe it to yourself to watch Dominion.

Exceptional first episode. Like Game of Thrones but with some Christian angels thrown in and modern-day tech all in a dystopia. Shocking that nobody is talking about it. Will update when I get through the first season.