They might be on the small screen now, but Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski are looking at the big picture with Sense8. With all 12 episodes of the Netflix series set to debut June 5 on the streaming service, Sense8, as my video review says, is a thrilling drama.
Yes, the philosophically wide-ranging and globally sprawling series about eight individuals who share the same consciousness takes a while to find its heart, though a Bollywood dance number and a great boxing ring sequence sure help get you there. However, isn’t taking that time part of the advantage of a bingeable format – that you can disregard the instant gratification narrative of weekly television? And the thing is, this series The Matrix directors co-created with J. Michael Straczynski is a lot less wide-eyed and more straightforward than you might think at first glance — and a real return to form after big-screen misfires with Jupiter Ascending and Cloud Atlas.
With several episodes directed by the Wachowskis themselves, Sense8 kicks off with a very stark scene between Daryl Hannah and Lost alum Naveen Andrews – because you have to have a Lost alum in these kinds of shows. The series also stars Tuppence Middleton as a superstar Icelandic DJ, Brian J. Smith as a Chicago cop, Doona Bae as a underground kickboxer, Aml Ameen as a Nairobi bus driver looking for money to pay for his mother’s AIDS medication, Miguel Angel Silvestre as a big-time Spanish actor living in Mexico City and the closet, Jamie Clayton as a San Fran transgender blogger, Tina Desai as a Mumbai scientist about to launch into a loveless marriage, and Max Riemelt as a small-time German crook.
Take a look at my Sense8 review and tell us what you think of my take on the new Netflix series. Will you be bingeing?
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