THE DRESDEN FILES
TV series review by David Blackwell
episodes reviewed: BRIDS OF A FEATHER (airs Jan 21st)
THE BOONE IDENTITY (airs Jan 28th)
series premieres on jan 21st at 9/8 pm Central on the Sci-Fi Channel
airs on Sundays before new episodes of Battlestar Galactica
based on THE DRESDEN FILES novels by Jim Butcher
THE DRESDEN FILES is one of those kind of great new series that would have thrived in syndication years ago. It is based
on a series of great novels by Jim Butcher (I have only read STORM FRONT and DEAD BEAT, but I have started FOOOL MOON). It
is granted that you have to change things when adapting novels into TV or film, but I'm still waiting for some of the big
supporting characters and bad guys from the books to show up and the original TV movie pilot will air later in a one hour
form unfortunately. The changes are startling to a few degrees if you read any of the novels because Dresden drives a Jeep
and in the series (Not the VW Bug in the novels) and Murphy is more attractive than I ever imagined her in the books. I don't
mind that Dresden's office and apartment were put together in one location, but the ghost of bob is startling to see in the
show as I imagined him as a wisecracking skull with glowing eyes in the books. Another thing I would like to see in the show
is how Dresden affects any technology he is near like in the novels. I know TV and film adaptations are full of compromise
and yet I'm think what if we had someone less adept adapting the books for TV.
I do like what Robert Hewitt Wolfe and Hans Beimler did when they adapted the books to TV. The second episode, THE BOONE
IDENTITY is the better of the two which is a good thing which means hopefully it will build momentum for viewers to stick
around after the first two episodes (but I wish Sci-Fi started the show a week or two earlier since the Super Bowl interrupts
new episodes on Feb 4th). On the downside, I wish STORM FRONT was the opener for the series since BIRDS OF A FEATHER (despite
being a good episode) isn't the type of story I would want to see open a new TV series.
The casting is great and I do like the bad guys so far, but then again I want to see the big bads from the novels and the
wizard's bar that Dresden goes to. THE DRESDEN FILES has lots to live up to since Jim Butcher has written such a great universe
of characters and stories.
Robert Hewitt Wolfe interview: https://enterline2.tripod.com/rhwolfe.html
this review is (c)1-19-2007 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link
to the review). Look for additional content at http://enterlinemedia.livejournal.com and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com