22/40
Here’s my problem… The lighting stinks
Story
An adaptation of James Patterson’s novel about the complex and brilliant detective Alex Cross, Hodge is the third actor to portray Cross, following in the footsteps of Morgan Freeman, who first played him on screen in 1997’s Kiss the Girls and again in the 2001 sequel Along Came a Spider; and Tyler Perry as the title character in 2012’s Alex Cross, which flopped at the box office and led to Lionsgate scrapping a planned sequel, Double Cross. I started following Aldis Hodge’s career after falling in love with his character in Leverage. His performance as the “hacker” Hardison was outstanding, and I totally buy his performance as Alex Cross. The script is strong, the performances are excellent across the board, and the direction and editing are top-notch. I don’t know anyone who spends every waking moment of their life in a room that dark.
Three scenes in particular stand out
I’m only 40 minutes into the first episode, but I’m already having trouble making out the details of many scenes. The first is the cocktail lounge. I don’t go to cocktail lounges or bars myself, but even the darkest restaurant I’ve ever been to had enough light for me to see the faces of the people at the table. The second is the bad guy’s hideout. Would someone working on detailed plans and designs really do that with such dim lighting?
This isn’t a romantic dinner for two
A perfectionist would want to be able to see everything they do clearly. The third is the house where Alex shows up for dinner. This is a gathering of family and friends. The entire house is dark – the entrance hall, the living room, and the dining room. Plus, every room in the police station is dark.
Why so dark?
Wouldn’t a forensics expert have a very well-lit operating room? If they’re trying to set the mood, I’m more focused on the fight for vision than the plot and dialogue. That’s a choice many shows have made in recent years. You know, anyone with visual impairments simply wouldn’t be able to watch it. My father certainly couldn’t.
That said, I could be wrong about the cause of the darkness
I stopped watching How I Met Your Father on another streaming service because it was so dark it was uncomfortable. A little digging online revealed that the problem was with the service, not the show itself. When the show was broadcast on the network, the lighting was fine.
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