Is The River worth your time? Come see what I have to say and why I say about it:
I finally caught up on ABC's creepy, Amazon terror-fest called The River. The show is from Oren Peli, the man behind the Paranormal Activity film franchise, and Michael R. Perry (PA2, The Guardian, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit). And as you can see, even Perry comes from the Paranormal Activity franchise. No matter what, you can't get away from that aspect of the production.
The cast includes Bruce Greenwood, Joe Anderson, Eloise Mumford, Thomas Kretschmann, Paulina Gaitan amongst the crew.
In The River, a TV adventurer goes missing in the Amazon while he went searching for magic. But he disappears and six months later, after his family declares him dead, his emergency beacon goes off and at the behest of a documentary crew willing to pay them, they go off in search of him.
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- We've Seen it Before, Right?
As expected, some of the same camera work we have seen from Peli in Paranormal Activity is how this TV show is filmed... and there are cameras everywhere.
In the first episode we have a weird, supernatural entity that floats around and kills.
The second episode we see the crew hiking through the forest and finding possessed dolls.
The third episode has our poor crew being haunted/hunted by ghostly natives.
-
Now add the themes from the first three episodes to the found-footage style of Oren Peli and tell me if you've seen this somewhere else before?
Exactly. It's all been done before.
And the reason I waited so long to spend some time checking out The River is because the advertising for the show seemed to be exactly what I expected. And I wasn't surprised.
-
- When it's Predictable, Don't Test My Patience
If there's one thing I noticed, it takes some focus to try and not be distracted by the Paranormal Activity feel to the show. It's like Magical Activity on a River. And then when we started seeing the fast-forward function of the video tapes to watch the sleeping crew just sealed the fate of the series for me.
And yet, I still kept looking for fresh content, hoping for an entertainment bone.
But that bone kept getting more distant.
Having a character who only speaks Spanish and needs subtitles is too much work for this fan.
Spirits of missing people inhabiting dragon flies is and old theme.
The missing man's wife, played by Leslie Hope, asking monsters that look like Lost's smoke monster if her hubby is alive seemed an odd disconnected connection. Did I mention we had a smoke monster look in the very first episode of the series?
-
- Connecting the Dots, Never So Easy
During the first few episodes of The River, characters were connecting dots wildly to make the story flow while other scenarios seem to play out according to plan.
Hey, when I can watch a scene and predict what's going to be happening next, well, I'm not entertained as much as I can be.
-
With that said, there are still parts that aren't all that bad and the lead cameraman, played by Shaun Parkes, can have his moments.
Then there's the proverbial mystery. And that being the expedition's hired gun or protection. It seems he's really there to keep them from finding the missing patriarch or "the source." What ever that is.
-
- Is There Mystery Enough for TV Viewers?
Nope.
During the two-hour series premiere of The River, ratings declined throughout. The third episode saw a 26% decrease in viewers from the two hour/episode premiere. The March 6th episode saw a 1.5/4 rating, down from the premiere's 2.6 rating the first hour of the series netted.
Soooo I'm thinking that this show may not make it beyond this first season, because face it, predictable found-footage material is not all that riveting any more. Especially on a weekly basis.
And through the first four hours of episodes, aside from a clue or two and each mystery, it's not seeming to move along.
-
I'd say don't worry about missing anything if you haven't caught it yet, because you've pretty much seen everything there is to see.
Speaking of seeing it all... in the fourth episode, PA's Katie Featherston makes an appearance, but she is seen being dragged off, feet first, off the deck of the boat... and yes, we've seen her do that the last time she worked with Oren Peli too! She's a regular in the Paranormal Activity franchise.
Is It Worth Your Time?
I finally caught up on ABC's creepy, Amazon terror-fest called The River. The show is from Oren Peli, the man behind the Paranormal Activity film franchise, and Michael R. Perry (PA2, The Guardian, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit). And as you can see, even Perry comes from the Paranormal Activity franchise. No matter what, you can't get away from that aspect of the production.
The cast includes Bruce Greenwood, Joe Anderson, Eloise Mumford, Thomas Kretschmann, Paulina Gaitan amongst the crew.
In The River, a TV adventurer goes missing in the Amazon while he went searching for magic. But he disappears and six months later, after his family declares him dead, his emergency beacon goes off and at the behest of a documentary crew willing to pay them, they go off in search of him.
-
- We've Seen it Before, Right?
As expected, some of the same camera work we have seen from Peli in Paranormal Activity is how this TV show is filmed... and there are cameras everywhere.
In the first episode we have a weird, supernatural entity that floats around and kills.
The second episode we see the crew hiking through the forest and finding possessed dolls.
The third episode has our poor crew being haunted/hunted by ghostly natives.
-
Now add the themes from the first three episodes to the found-footage style of Oren Peli and tell me if you've seen this somewhere else before?
Exactly. It's all been done before.
And the reason I waited so long to spend some time checking out The River is because the advertising for the show seemed to be exactly what I expected. And I wasn't surprised.
-
- When it's Predictable, Don't Test My Patience
If there's one thing I noticed, it takes some focus to try and not be distracted by the Paranormal Activity feel to the show. It's like Magical Activity on a River. And then when we started seeing the fast-forward function of the video tapes to watch the sleeping crew just sealed the fate of the series for me.
And yet, I still kept looking for fresh content, hoping for an entertainment bone.
But that bone kept getting more distant.
Having a character who only speaks Spanish and needs subtitles is too much work for this fan.
Spirits of missing people inhabiting dragon flies is and old theme.
The missing man's wife, played by Leslie Hope, asking monsters that look like Lost's smoke monster if her hubby is alive seemed an odd disconnected connection. Did I mention we had a smoke monster look in the very first episode of the series?
-
- Connecting the Dots, Never So Easy
During the first few episodes of The River, characters were connecting dots wildly to make the story flow while other scenarios seem to play out according to plan.
Hey, when I can watch a scene and predict what's going to be happening next, well, I'm not entertained as much as I can be.
-
With that said, there are still parts that aren't all that bad and the lead cameraman, played by Shaun Parkes, can have his moments.
Then there's the proverbial mystery. And that being the expedition's hired gun or protection. It seems he's really there to keep them from finding the missing patriarch or "the source." What ever that is.
-
- Is There Mystery Enough for TV Viewers?
Nope.
During the two-hour series premiere of The River, ratings declined throughout. The third episode saw a 26% decrease in viewers from the two hour/episode premiere. The March 6th episode saw a 1.5/4 rating, down from the premiere's 2.6 rating the first hour of the series netted.
Soooo I'm thinking that this show may not make it beyond this first season, because face it, predictable found-footage material is not all that riveting any more. Especially on a weekly basis.
And through the first four hours of episodes, aside from a clue or two and each mystery, it's not seeming to move along.
-
I'd say don't worry about missing anything if you haven't caught it yet, because you've pretty much seen everything there is to see.
Speaking of seeing it all... in the fourth episode, PA's Katie Featherston makes an appearance, but she is seen being dragged off, feet first, off the deck of the boat... and yes, we've seen her do that the last time she worked with Oren Peli too! She's a regular in the Paranormal Activity franchise.
Is It Worth Your Time?
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