War. War never changes. But it appears that video game adaptations do. With the recent success of HBO’s The Last of Us and Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. Movie the future is certainly looking bright for video game adaptations. I had my breath held for Amazon’s adaptation of Fallout for multiple reasons and was preparing for the worst. It’s one of my favourite video game franchises, and I honestly didn’t believe it would translate well to a non-interactive medium as a lot of Fallout’s charm is in the way it plays. But here I am, eating my hat, because Fallout is a damn good time. It’s not a perfect adaptation, if such a thing can exist, but it retains enough of what makes the games special whilst injecting enough elements of great TV to come out the other side as a solid enough translation of the property for fans and newcomers alike.
Over two hundred years since the United States was decimated by nuclear weapons, Lucy (Ella Purnell) must venture out of the underground vault she calls home into the wasteland in search of her father (Kyle MacLachlan). The world is far stranger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined, and she finds herself in possession of a valuable bargaining chip that she may be able to use to gain her father’s freedom. But also, in pursuit of this item are Maximus (Aaron Moten), a member of the morally questionable militaristic force the Brotherhood of Steel, and a highly irradiated and disfigured ghoul, Cooper (Walton Goggins), both of whom will stop at nothing to take the prize for their own gains.
If this series nails anything, it’s the vibe. It looks like Fallout, and it sounds like Fallout. It’s got a good mix of irreverent humor, gory action, and dark nuclear holocaust themes. There’s a dog. It’s got all the right ingredients, it just needs to be constructed in the right way.
Over two hundred years since the United States was decimated by nuclear weapons, Lucy (Ella Purnell) must venture out of the underground vault she calls home into the wasteland in search of her father (Kyle MacLachlan). The world is far stranger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined, and she finds herself in possession of a valuable bargaining chip that she may be able to use to gain her father’s freedom. But also, in pursuit of this item are Maximus (Aaron Moten), a member of the morally questionable militaristic force the Brotherhood of Steel, and a highly irradiated and disfigured ghoul, Cooper (Walton Goggins), both of whom will stop at nothing to take the prize for their own gains.
If this series nails anything, it’s the vibe. It looks like Fallout, and it sounds like Fallout. It’s got a good mix of irreverent humor, gory action, and dark nuclear holocaust themes. There’s a dog. It’s got all the right ingredients, it just needs to be constructed in the right way.
It’s no secret for fans of the Fallout games that the main story is usually the least interesting bit. It’s the world and the people you meet along the way that make the games fun and interesting to play. In fact, Fallout (the series) follows a tried-and-true pattern of Fallout game intros, you’re a vault dweller who must leave the safety of their home in search of [insert family member here]. From there the world’s your oyster to explore in whatever manner you might like.
I wondered if the series might follow this kind of structure, with each episode featuring a new cast of characters and a self-contained story with the through line story of the show being Lucy’s search for her father. But instead, it has a more focused approach with only minor detours taken here and there, but each of these do explore the history of the world in new and interesting ways.
The main trio of characters, Lucy, Maximus, and Cooper are each strong in their own respects. Lucy is the perfect vault dweller, raised with a chipper 1950’s era demeanour whose entire existence hinges on the vault’s being the saviour for humanity, only to have that belief repeatedly beaten out of her as she must learn to survive in the wasteland. Maximus is living a lie in the hope that his success will bring him glory and allow him to climb the ranks in the Brotherhood. Meanwhile Cooper is a nihilistic and dangerous bounty hunter who has been wandering the wasteland for two centuries searching for those that have wronged him, keeping himself alive through a constant drip feed of drugs.
Purnell really shines here. She’s the heart and soul of the series and it’s impossible not to fall in love with her persistent optimism in the face of adversity. Her naivety is often played for laughs, and she just runs with it. The way Purnell grows the character over the series from a fish out of water to someone who is beginning to understand what it takes to survive is perfectly paced. She’s no killer or capable survivor come the end of the season, but she’s come a long way from when she first stepped out of Vault 33, and I look forward to seeing her continue to grow in future seasons.
Goggins is always a delight to watch, and he brings his best for Cooper. The opening scene to the entire show follows him as the bombs begin to fall and its not only a terrifyingly beautiful opener, but the perfect introduction to his character as we get to see a glimpse of the man he was before he became this monster that has been twisted and deformed by the radioactive wastes.
I feel like Moten is the weakest of the leads, but a part of that is because his character in inherently kind of pathetic. I’m hoping that he’ll get more of an opportunity to prove himself in Season two as I think Moten’s got a lot of potential to make the character great, so long as the writing allows him the opportunity to.
I wondered if the series might follow this kind of structure, with each episode featuring a new cast of characters and a self-contained story with the through line story of the show being Lucy’s search for her father. But instead, it has a more focused approach with only minor detours taken here and there, but each of these do explore the history of the world in new and interesting ways.
The main trio of characters, Lucy, Maximus, and Cooper are each strong in their own respects. Lucy is the perfect vault dweller, raised with a chipper 1950’s era demeanour whose entire existence hinges on the vault’s being the saviour for humanity, only to have that belief repeatedly beaten out of her as she must learn to survive in the wasteland. Maximus is living a lie in the hope that his success will bring him glory and allow him to climb the ranks in the Brotherhood. Meanwhile Cooper is a nihilistic and dangerous bounty hunter who has been wandering the wasteland for two centuries searching for those that have wronged him, keeping himself alive through a constant drip feed of drugs.
Purnell really shines here. She’s the heart and soul of the series and it’s impossible not to fall in love with her persistent optimism in the face of adversity. Her naivety is often played for laughs, and she just runs with it. The way Purnell grows the character over the series from a fish out of water to someone who is beginning to understand what it takes to survive is perfectly paced. She’s no killer or capable survivor come the end of the season, but she’s come a long way from when she first stepped out of Vault 33, and I look forward to seeing her continue to grow in future seasons.
Goggins is always a delight to watch, and he brings his best for Cooper. The opening scene to the entire show follows him as the bombs begin to fall and its not only a terrifyingly beautiful opener, but the perfect introduction to his character as we get to see a glimpse of the man he was before he became this monster that has been twisted and deformed by the radioactive wastes.
I feel like Moten is the weakest of the leads, but a part of that is because his character in inherently kind of pathetic. I’m hoping that he’ll get more of an opportunity to prove himself in Season two as I think Moten’s got a lot of potential to make the character great, so long as the writing allows him the opportunity to.
It seems that Amazon may have learned their lesson somewhat from the Rings of Power backlash. Whilst there are certainly digital effects in abundance, there's a reliance on physical sets and costumes that sells the world so much more. I’m sure that Amazon would rather have had the entire thing shot on a digital set, but everything looks so much better because it’s actually tangible and real. Visually it most resembles Fallout 4, which makes sense because that was the most popular recent release (let’s just forget about Fallout 76). But it does draw inspiration from the likes of Fallout: New Vegas, and even a couple of the classic nineties games which was a nice touch.
I think Amazon might be on to a winner here. The showrunners clearly have a great understanding of the source material, and have woven it into the format of big budget TV expertly. It’s a great jumping on point for newcomers as it requires zero knowledge of the games to understand and enjoy, but if you’re a veteran like me then there’s plenty of nods and respect paid to the games. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to stick on some fifties tunes, crack open an ice cold Nuka-Cola, and venture out into the wasteland once again, because war, war never changes.
I think Amazon might be on to a winner here. The showrunners clearly have a great understanding of the source material, and have woven it into the format of big budget TV expertly. It’s a great jumping on point for newcomers as it requires zero knowledge of the games to understand and enjoy, but if you’re a veteran like me then there’s plenty of nods and respect paid to the games. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to stick on some fifties tunes, crack open an ice cold Nuka-Cola, and venture out into the wasteland once again, because war, war never changes.