As I mentioned in my previous posts, I love web series. Often they're short, entertaining, and laugh out loud funny. Often these series, however, are made by people who went to film school and know all the things about film making but were unable to make it big in to the main stream. Often the production value of these shows will be bad and most could probably do with better writing.
For example, episodes of Red V.S. Blue and The Angry Video Game Nerd tend be hit or miss and The Nostalgia Critic's material tends to be a bit repetitive. The effects of these series’ tend to be a bit cheap and the people who star in them aren’t known for anything else and probably won't be known for anything else. Even other web series that air on Hulu tend to either be limited to short reality show and short talk shows and likewise have people who will probably never be known for anything else.
And then you have The Confession, which is the complete opposite of all these web series and is probably the best web series I have ever seen. So what makes this series so different? Well, for those of you who don't know, I shall enlighten you. This is The Illusive One's take on The Confession and why it's so different from other web series.
The Confession is a ten part web series that aired on Hulu, beginning on March 28th, 2011 and ended yesterday on May 2nd. The story revolves a hit man, (only know as the Confessor), who walks into a confession booth one day and begins talking to a priest about the nature of evil after seeing a man he killed completely a peace with his fate after making his peace with God. In the process, he tells the Priest his life's story as a killer and the Priest likewise tells the Confessor his so they are able to relate to one another as the Priest tries to convince the Confessor to stop killing and the Confessor tries to bring the Priest to his way of thinking and was a unique look at good and evil. As the series progresses, we find that the Confessor isn't as evil as he was suggested to be in the first episode as he is able to show acts of mercy and compassion. We also find that the Priest isn't as good as the series first suggested, as he had done horrible things in his past that drove him to the church. Sold yet? Well, if not, keep on reading.
Where this series shines, is in its choice in actors and great writing as it had first rate actors in the lead roles and actual script writers and film directors writing and directing. Kiefer Sutherland was perfect as the Confessor and I doubt anyone could have been better for this role. John Hurt was likewise great as the Priest but he was kind of overshadowed by Sutherland. The storyline revolving around the two characters was just great and kept you in suspense and eager for the next episode. The only real problems I had with the plot and characters was that the end twist was a little predictable and I felt the Priest said “God forgive me” a little too much. That aside, the series had great acting with great characters and great writing and is what makes the series worth watching.
As far as web series' goes, The Confession actually had good production value. The set design, cinematography, camera angles, and general directorial style used for the series were great and actually surpass many of the things they have T.V. nowadays. The down side to this, however, is that a lot of the effects sucked. When a gun shot with a silencer, it was good but most of the other sound effects were bad. Any gunshot without a silencer didn't sound right or sounded like a generic gun shot; an effect that anyone could pull off but fails to sound real. The same goes for when someone is being punched or kicked as it sounded too generic and flat out stupid. Then you had the blood spatter effects that were either bad or nonexistent. For example, when the Confessor shoots someone in the head the blood that appeared behind the victim just looked beyond fake. Keep in mind, however, that it's just a web series and they probably had a limited budget and more than likely spent most of their money in the filming process.
All around, it was a great little series and a welcome departure from both the usual web series and T.V. series. It had a great plot, great acting and great writing and that's what separates it from all other web series. What separated it from T.V. series was that it was about a hit man who is unapologetic about what he does and shows no intention of stopping. You can't put lead characters like that on prime time. One of the best things about this series is that each episode is only around six minutes long with the longest episode around ten minutes. As I mentioned the series did have its flaws but the bad never outweighed the good. In truth, my biggest problem with it was that it showed no sign of continuing after the final episode and that disappointed me. So if you have an hour and a half to spare, I would highly recommend watching this series as it's worth every second. It's truly a great web series so check it out and let’s hope it paves the way for more like it in the future.
All Around
9/10
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