Review: Arcane Act One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Piltover and Zaun might be close in proximity, but location is the only thing they share. The topsiders dislike the undercity people and vice versa. When a crew led by teenage rebel Vi breaks into an apartment in Piltover and causes a major explosion, it sets in motion a chain of events that seems sure to change the lives of people in both cities forever. And once an idealistic inventor named Jayce gets involved, there’s more to it than just simple turf wars… there’s magical mischief afoot as well!

Our Take:

Coming from League of Legends creators Riot Games, Arcane is a show set in the same world as the iconic game. This series has apparently been in the works for many years at this point, and it shows. Arcane may me ‘merely’ a video game adaptation, but it’s clearly crafted with a lot of love and care put into the little details. The plot is packed with plenty of mystery and magic. Add a stellar voice cast to the mix, and Riot might just have a recipe for success on its hands. But does that translate to a good show?

Adaptations based on video games have gotten a bad rap for years now, and not without reason. Too often something special is lost in translation. Is that the case for Arcane? I should preface this by saying I have never played League of Legends and I know pretty much nothing about it. That means I’m coming into the series with fresh eyes, for better or worse. And from my perspective, it’s a mixed bag—but I think the good outweighs the bad.

One thing that Arcane has going for it is that it’s not merely an adaption of a pre-existing story. Rather than setting the show in the same timeline as the game, this series is supposedly sort of a prequel in that it delves into the origins of two so-called League Champions. The first three episodes of the series, packaged together as Act 1, tell the story of a world of divisions, with topsiders pitted against bottom dwellers. But by the third episode, things take a turn for the worse and it’s not just them VS us anymore—it’s us VS us.

Led by the always amazing Hailee Steinfeld as Vi, the voice cast is almost uniformly excellent. I want to give a shoutout to the voice of Powder as well—Mia Sinclair Jenness really shines in the role. The visuals of the show feel video game-y, but not necessarily in a bad way. Everything is very stylized and it gives the animation a unique look that fits the vibe of the show well. The title sequence is especially cool. It feels a lot like the openings to major live-action shows like American Gods or Daredevil, and it’s not something I’ve seen done for an animated show like this before… I like it!

As for the negative? The first three episodes have a lot going on. Too much, some might argue, and that makes everything feel very fast-paced. Sometimes that works to the shows advantage, but other times that makes it feel choppy and rushed. The characters are all pretty stereotypical cliches: the rebellious older sister, the timid younger sister, the smart one, the fearless one. There’s not really any time given to character development because so much action is packed into these first three eps. It seems like the series motto is when in doubt, kill off someone a character cares about. From the very beginning, there’s a little too much use of slow motion to emphasize major moments, and sometimes things feel a little too over the top and melodramatic.

That’s especially true for the final scene of Act 1, which sees Powder siding with Silco in a bizarre twist that tries a little too hard to draw similarities between the two of them. It could’ve been a really jaw-dropping moment had there been some proper buildup, but everything happens so quickly that there’s no time to process it. One second Powder is rushing to save her sister and the next second she’s saying she has no sister. It’s certainly justifiable if you consider that she’s a kid and emotions run high between her and her sister, but I wish I didn’t have to try and justify it. Oh, and Jacyn’s magical research plot feels kind of pointlessly droll alongside the action down under.

Arcane may be new territory for League of Legends, but the show already feels like it’s starting to find its footing after three episodes. The characters have the potential to be really interesting, the animation is pretty, and the pace is speedy enough (sometimes too speedy) to keep viewer’s engaged whether they’re fans of the game already or are simply browsing around Netflix for something fun to watch. The cliffhanger at the end of episode three makes it seem like this is the last time we’ll see these characters at this stage in their lives. I’m sad about leaving Powder and Vi behind in this state, but curious to know just how much things will change when Act 2 drops next week.