'Pantheon,' an animated sci-fi drama from AMC+, has a bonkers premise—and the intelligence to back it up

AMC’s Pantheon has one of the most brilliant storylines I’ve seen in years.

It seems animation series are ratcheting up the battle for supremacy and I’m here for it.

  • simple@lemm.eeEnglish
    201·
    1 year ago

    I’ve watched the first season and I’ve got such mixed feelings about Pantheon. The first half of the season was really grounded and eerie which I loved, but then it suddenly became over the top with anime fight scenes and a cartoonishly evil villain.

    It just felt like they tried making two shows in one, but I am curious to see how season 2 goes. I hope they ease off on the fantasy stuff.

    • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.mlEnglish
      81·
      1 year ago

      I am enthusiastic about Pantheon, but generally agree with your nuanced take.

      I mean, in the first half we have such heady scenes as this where they discuss solutions to the classic Dining Philosophers Problem. Brilliant and, imho, a bold move from the writers to include something that in depth.

      And yes, later on, it gets more mainstream with anime fight scenes in video game virtual reality, and concepts echoed from classic media like The Matrix and The Truman Show to make it more engaging to non techy audiences.

      Personally I liked 95‰ of it. It took chances, was willing to pull from a lot of resources while still remaining somewhat original in its presentation, and had endearing and engaging characters.

      I’m stoked that Amazon picked it up as AMC cancelled it reneging on its commitment to producing a second season. I haven’t been this excited about a tech show since Mr. Robot or Halt and Catch Fire.