[Tyson]

And maybe, just maybe, a work of genius. 

The Wachowski's have had interesting ideas in every movie they made after "The Matrix", but unfortunately their delivery of those ideas was poor and led to a string of disappointments compared to the fit, finish, narrative drive, emotional heft, and world building of the first Matrix.  With Sense8 they are finally back on form.  8 narratives, 8 individuals, 8 cultures, multiple continents, and all the complicated mess that human beings create and are a part of. 

The greater theme is about human connectedness that transcends the cultural and geographic barriers we tend to erect.  It's love story, a revenge story, a prison escape movie, a warlord movie, and another love story.  Plus kung fu, gun fights, computer hacking, and explosions.  What more could you want? 

Highly recommended, the best new series I've seen since Hannibal and True Detective.  One warning - you might want to avoid it if you're socially conservative.  Otherwise, 2 thumbs up, way up!

[mresseguie]

Hi, Tyson.

I've seen just the first episode so far. I suspect it was important to establish all the players in the first episode for improved coherency in later episodes, but it felt a little forced (too much information) to me. It was interesting enough that I will watch the next episode.

Did you find this to be the case with the first episode?

Michael

[Tyson]

Yes, they definitely build out all the characters and plot lines much more over the rest of the series.  The thing I like about the show is that it never really goes fully into "sci-fi" mode, or really fully into "mystical" mode.  It stays pretty grounded in the human perspective.

[brother love]

Thanks for the recommend. I will definitely check Sense8 out.

I'll be honest though, I have very muted expectations from the Wachowskis' any more.  The Matrix is a classic. I love that movie.  Bound was pretty good, & their screenplay for V for Vendetta was good.  Everything else they have done usually piques my interest, only to fall flat.

[wushuliu]

Thanks for the review. I want to like the Wachs but I find them kind of tone deaf when it comes to emotion and dialogue. Like philosophy-heavy Ridley Scotts. But since it's on Netflix I may give Sense8 a shot.

[Tyson]

Thanks for the review. I want to like the Wachs but I find them kind of tone deaf when it comes to emotion and dialogue. Like philosophy-heavy Ridley Scotts. But since it's on Netflix I may give Sense8 a shot.

I think they left a lot of the dialog to Michael Straczynski, who keeps things at a more human level.  Don't get me wrong, it's still the Wachowski's, so there's explicit debate of philosophical ideas, but it's toned down a lot and expressed in the language that would be natural to the character expressing it.  Of course, I'm also a sucker for shows that give glimpses into other cultures so I can forgive a lot in exchange for that.  But things never go full on woo, and you can tell they are having fun with some of the genre tropes.  If you watch things from a meta level at all, its a blast.

[mresseguie]

Oh! I just finished the 2nd episode. 

Now I'm hooked.

[ajzepp]

I watched the first episode and immediately felt disappointed. I put this one on ice and started watching Bloodline, which I'm enjoying even though it's a bit of a slow burn.

You guys have persuaded me to go back to Sense 8 after Bloodline...can't say I was all that captivated after ep 1, but wouldn't be the first time I revisited a show and was glad I did.

I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing more of Mr Robot, which starts up next week. The first episode (available on Youtube) was solid.

[WGH]

Enjoying Sense8 a lot, just finished episode 6 and my glasses were all steamed up - must have been the humidity from the swimming pool.

The series has an excellent soundtrack which is very well recorded and an integral part of the story, the sound level in my home theater is a little louder than usual because the action scenes have tremendous drive and urgency which would be diminished at a lower volume.

[ajzepp]

Enjoying Sense8 a lot, just finished episode 6 and my glasses were all steamed up - must have been the humidity from the swimming pool.

The series has an excellent soundtrack which is very well recorded and an integral part of the story, the sound level in my home theater is a little louder than usual because the action scenes have tremendous drive and urgency which would be diminished at a lower volume.

Say what you will about the Wachowskis, they ALWAYS bring the goods with regard to sound and effects...that's a big reason I'm pretty sure I'm going to watch Jupiter Ascending this weekend even with the lousy reviews.

[Rob Babcock]

I realize I'm in the minority but I very much liked Jupiter Ascending.  If you go in thinking "Kramer vs Kramer" or "Schindler's List" you're gonna be disappointed but as a popcorn flick it's great. Channing Tatum really shines, Mila Kunis not so much. But it's still a lot of fun.

[persisting1]

This will probably be my next series 

[InfernoSTi]

Enjoying the series very much...the human condition, the questions of humanity, pretty much make it all work.  The action is fun but would get old quickly without the real parts.  Not for the conservative set, however.

[mcgsxr]

I am in 4 episodes now and will watch it all. 

Not awesome but interesting.  I like it. 

[Mr P]

The wife and I finished watching Season 1 yesterday. We both found it very different from the standard fare that is usually churned out by the major networks.  While there were a couple of episodes that were a little slow, overall we really enjoyed the first season.  The last three episodes kicked butt, IMHO. We are hooked.

[mcgsxr]

I very much enjoyed the first season, once past around the first 4 episodes.

Not loving waiting for S2 though!

[persisting1]

Okay, I just finished this series.

I really, really wanted to like this series. It wasn't bad, but I feel like it was missing something. The writing just didn't paint a story for me. I know I was supposed to care about the characters, but I didn't see a reason to. It seems like they just wrote a sad back story for each character and that was supposed to be enough for me to care. Almost each character felt like a cliche from their region of the world. I'm a sucker for cheesy sci-fi, but this wasn't intended to be cheesy. It just felt cheesy at times.

There were characters I liked. Story lines I followed, but not enough to keep me interested.

I do think the overall storyline has potential. I just wish they went further with the character development.

Oh well.

[Davey]

It's an interesting series.  I'd give it a tentative thumbs up.

It took me a few episodes to start following the narrative.  But the episodes improve as you move along.
There's some gratuitous stuff that could have been left out, and a few of the characters leave you raising your eyebrow, but all-in-all pretty good.

The cinematography and visuals are first-rate (John Toll)....IHMO.

Dave.