"Band of Brothers II: The Empire of Japan Strikes BacK". HBO is heading back to the battlefield, and this time, well, things aren't too much better, though they are bigger than ever, as this puppy, at $200 million, is the most expensive miniseries ever made. Wow, HBO… More
"Band of Brothers II: The Empire of Japan Strikes BacK". HBO is heading back to the battlefield, and this time, well, things aren't too much better, though they are bigger than ever, as this puppy, at $200 million, is the most expensive miniseries ever made. Wow, HBO really doesn't mess around, but then again, they're backed by, like, twenty other networks with this project, so that kind of tones down the shock value of this series' expensiveness, and it doesn't help that this series is also backed by Steven Spielberg, who could have come up with that $200 million, and then some, out of his back pocket. Actually, come to think of it, I'm still pretty blown away by this series' budget, because as much as this series costs, you'd think that they would actually get plenty more big-name performers, like they did with "Band of Brothers". Granted, the big-name performers in "Band of Brothers" were hardly big in 2001, with some being mainly big in the TV circuit nowadays, but still, with this series, you know that you're in trouble when you've a cast this big, and the biggest name you can get is the chick from "Fringe", who, for that matter, just shows up for the first act of the fith episode. That's a shame, because these are some really good performers, so let's hope that this series takes ol' Chase Edmunds here some places that I hope will be better than this series. No, I like this show, just like how I like "Band of Brothers", it's just that I still wasn't terribly crazy about "Band of Brothers", and for quite a few reasons, some of which you better believe are in this series.
Clocking in over two-and-a-half hours behind "Band of Brothers", this series is not only considerably shorter than its sister, but tighter, trimming much of the excessive fat that bloated and crippled "Band of Brothers", and aided in the final product's downfall as underwhelming, even with its pick-up, and yet, with that said, while this series isn't as bloated as its predecessor, it's still hardly as tight as it probably should be, going padded out by excessive material, if not all-out filler, as well as repetition that may not be quite as consistent as it was in "Band of Brothers", but gets intense something fierce when it does, in fact, come into play, as it still all too often does. What makes all of this bloating all the worse is, of course, what made worse all of the bloating in "Band of Brothers" all the worse: slowness, for although this series also trims up much of the slowness that secured "Band of Brothers" as underwhelming, when things slow down, they go dry, limp and altogether potentially as slow as borderline glacial, and with all of this slowness going accompanied by the aforementioned periodic overwhelming padding, the series all too often finds itself collapsing into a crawl, which of course leaves the fair share of moments in which momentum returns perhaps too swiftly to drive awkward unevenness into the pacing, thus leaving pacing issues to stand among the series' biggest problems, though not quite as much as it did for "Band of Brothers", an equal series. This series trims, if not just plain omits much of what went into holding back the promising saga that was "Band of Brothers", thus this series should, for all extents and purposes, be superior, yet when you get down to it, for every mistake and shortcoming made by "Band of Brothers" that this series cuts back on, there are quite a few mistakes and shortcomings that "Band of Brothers" didn't make that this series collapses into, with one of those missteps being focal unevenness, for although arc limiting and general episodicity is by design with this series, the focus shifts with each episode get to be too jarring and take you out of the progression of the plot, and it doesn't help that the series will, for several episodes, sometimes in a row, all but abandon military aspects - from warfare combat to even presence on military grounds - for far too long and ever so awkwardly forget its being a war story, thus leaving momentum to further plummet. By the "Peleliu Arc" that claims episodes five, six and seven, this issue thins out, or at least grows on you enough for you to not really notice, yet the often messy juggling of so many stories and story angles brings more to attention both the limited momentum in the progression of the plot, and the limited bite within the plot to begin with. Certainly, this series' story is a very worthy one, and enough so for the underwhelming execution of the story to feel like a true loss, there's not quite as much power to this story concept as the story concept of "Band of Brothers", or at least not quite as much power to this story concept as the series wishes, as the series' ambitions, while very much noble, is perhaps all too palpable, because even though I'm not especially crazy about "Band of Brothers", this series arrives in the wake of a lauded groundbreaker and feels as though it's all too aware of it, because even though the series often finds some confidence with its high spots, all too often, it's hard to deny a kind of overambition within the atmosphere that creates a kind of awkwardness that further brings to light this series' shortcomings. Now, the missteps aren't as glaring as I make them sound, or at least not after a while, yet in certain cases, moderate missteps can go a long way, and sure enough, while this series is an enjoyable one with many a strength and quite a few high spots, its shorcomings are all too consistent, beating at this promising series until, by the end, what remains is yet another generally underwhelming take on a worthy tale. Of course, like "Band of Brothers", for every false move that pulls this series beneath its full potential, there are quite a few points in which the series engages by fulfilling some areas of its ambition, or at least by putting its money where its mouth is as far as production value is concerned.
As I said in my pretty uninspired opener, this miniseries, at $200 million, is the most expensive ever, and as much as I joke about how this series could have afforded bigger performers with that kind of money, it's not too difficult to see where the money went, because although we're not necessarily looking as some kind of royal, Victorian era period piece here, the production designs are sharp and elaborate, whether when they're delivering on disturbingly verisimilar practical effects - much of which are of an effective gore persuasion - or establishing both the era and battlefields with immersive sharpness that backs up the selling of this world, while what backs up the selling of the tone is the series' more visual sharpness. For this series, Remi Adefarasin returns from "Band of Brothers" as cinematographer, only this time, with Stephen F. Windon and without both Joel J. Ransom and as much stunning style as "Band of Brothers", whose gray-paletted visual artistry has dated a smidge, yet remains arguably more striking than this series' less distinct look, which isn't to say that this series isn't good-looking something fierce, as Adefarasin and Windon deliver on strikingly clear detail that portrays the brighter spots near-breathtakingly and the heavier moments with handsome grit that supplements the intensity of the atmosphere, made all the more intense when the photography gets slickly staged in the heat of battle. Sure, certain action set pieces are sharper than others, with Tony To, as director, delivering what is so easily the most slickly-executed and intensely-crafted action with part six that he all but undercuts the impressiveness of nearly all other action set pieces, yet just about every action set piece, while occasionally with the tendency to outstay its welcome, is cleverly staged and generally quite effective in audaciously establishing tension, made all the more effective by a kind of artistry that is more pronounced in this series than it was in "Band of Brothers" and makes more effective just about every other form of resonance: the musical kind. Sure, the late, great Michael Kamen's score work for "Band of Brothers" was nothing short of sharp, and the more intense pronunciation of the score work in this series as a resonance supplement gets to be a touch manipulative when we dip into the less subtle dramatic moments, but the musical team on this show really earns its being so atmospherically emphasized, with the great Hans Zimmer earning your attention with the engrossingly poignant "Honor" that keeps you going through all of the three minutes of the considerably overlong yet well-crafted opening titles sequence, and Geoff Zanelli and Blake Neely deliver on elegantly powerful musical grace to keep you going throughout story, which isn't to say that the story itself doesn't do more than its fair share to keep you engaged, because although there's not quite as much weight to this story as the story of "Band of Brothers", come on, this remains a highly important and worthy tale whose execution is certainly very improvable, yet compels with its basic concept, alone, and it helps that the execution of the story certainly isn't without its fair share of things that it does get right, with the writing department delivering on both charming dialogue to bring to life the charming humor of the less intense moments and grand set pieces and audacious realism to bring to life the horror of the more harsh moments, and directing department being far too hit-or-miss for this series' own good. What cripples the final product as underwhelming is not so much consistent directorial faultiness, but general directorial faultiness, as most episodes fail to be as inspired in their direction as they should be, thus calling more to attention the more natural shortcomings and other missteps, so by the time the series picks up, it's too tattered to be rewarding, as a whole, yet not so tattered that the pick-ups aren't recognized or rendered ineffective, because when the series finally picks up, it all but takes off, admittedly to where I found it nearly impossible to not look back and wonder what this series would have been like if it had kept consistent with the momentum it eventually achieves, but only because the series, when at its most sharply directed, hits pretty hard, with entertainment value, tension and, of course, compelling resonance that comes in too little, too late, yet stands as worth the wait, being moving and definitive of the series' thematic and dramatic depth, until by the time Jeremy Podeswa claims the director's chair for the final episode, I couldn't help but find myself choked up by the satisfying conclusion that wraps everything up tightly, maybe not to where it redeems the shorcomings, yet certainly to where it ameliorated my appreciation for what this series does, in fact, get oh so right. To many of this series' directors slip up in too many areas, yet when it's all said and done, the series is really brought to life by what the offscreen performances do right, as well as by what is done right by the onscreen talents, none of whom fault, like the offscreen performers, and nearly all of whom compel, with such supporting players as the fashionably late yet ultimately rather prominent and exceedingly charming Rami Malek stealing the show, and leads James Badge Dale (He was Chase Edmunds on "24" in case you didn't get what I was talking about in that lame opener), Joseph Mazzello and Jon Seda owning the show with electric charisma, matched, if not topped by strong dramatic notes that range from an engagingly convincing atmosphere to powerful emotion that Mazzello particularly delivers on, and with enough effectiveness to define not only the depths of his Corporal Eugene "Sledgehammer" Sledge character, but the depths of the poor souls who had to face what the late and honorable Mr. Sledge had to face, which isn't to say that the portrayers of the other poor souls in question don't do a fine job of defining their characters. There is indeed much to compliment, if not just plain praise with this series, with quite a few aspects topping their counterparts from "Band of Brothers", and the brightest spots shining brighter than any moment of "Band of Brothers", yet for every area in which this companion piece accels, there are more than a few shortcomings and faults that ultimately drive the final product down to the same level of "Band of Brothers", which still isn't the worst position to be, for although this series, like its sister, "Brothers" (I can't believe it took me so long to say that either), falls very much short of what it could have been, what it is is an epic with quite a few high points to break up the consistency in the decency that pulls you through this saga, improvable though, it may be.
To ship out, momentum goes slowed down by both, well, slowness, made all the worse by a fair bit of bloating, and a degree of focal unevenness that dilutes a feel of progression with this plot, which, to begin with, doesn't bite as firmly as it probably should, which doesn't stop overambition from creeping in and rather awkwardly calling more to attention what this series doesn't quite right and what it never could have gotten right, thus making for an underwhelming series, yet one worth sitting through, because for every slip-up, there is a strength, with the sharp production designs, striking photography, intense and well-crafted action and powerfully graceful score working as generally worthy supplements to the effectiveness within the story that is, in fact, well-handled in the writing and directorial departments, as well as complimented by consistent power in the acting department, thus leaving "The Pacific" to stand as a consistently enjoyable saga with some considerable high points, even with the shortcomings that undercut the high points much too often.
2.5/5 - Fair
