NETFLIX REVIEW: THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY (2019) | Jazz Blackwell
It'll probably come as absolutely no shock to anybody reading this that teenage Jazz was something of a Gerard Way superfan (who are we kidding - I still totally am). So when I saw that the comics he created alongside Brazilian artist Gabriel Bá were being adapted to a television show via Netflix - well, something in my cold, dead little emo heart melted just a little bit.
Confession time: although I own the first volume of the comic book series (Apocalypse Suite), I never really got super into it. I suppose I've never really been a graphic novel person and really I was only interested in these comics because it had Gerard Way's name on the cover. That said, what I did read I thoroughly enjoyed and as such, I was more than a little excited for the series premiere.
If you're unfamiliar with the premise, allow me to sketch you a rough outline; on a day in 1989 in various places around the world, a number of children are born to women who had not been pregnant when they woke up that morning. Seven of them are adopted by Reginald Hargreeves, an eccentric scientist who recognises the unique superhuman powers each child possesses and raises them to become a ragtag team of sibling superheroes. Now adults, the siblings have abandoned their crime fighting and become estranged from one another, however, they are reunited by the death of their adopted father and the mysterious circumstances surrounding it.
I'm just gonna jump the gun and say it before I even get to the end of this review; I bloody loved this show, so much. Really, I have only two very small criticisms of it; the first is that, from what I recall of the comics, some parts of the storyline have been changed quite drastically. Now, to me, that isn't so much of an issue; the changes make sense for a TV adaptation and they don't make the plot any less enjoyable. However, if you're a purist and you like the show to be exactly like the book then this is probably gonna annoy you quite a bit. The second is the rather obvious similarities the show bares to the X-Men, which have been pointed out by several other critics. Again, this doesn't really bother me at all; I always was a huge X-Men fan, and the showrunners themselves seemed very aware of the similarities - there's even one direct comparison between Hargreeves and Charles Xavier.
Aside from those two small gripes (could we really call them that? Perhaps 'qualms' is more accurate), the show is, as far as I'm concerned, absolute perfection. It strikes a perfect balance between comedy and sci-fi, without ever being cheesy, and perfectly offsets its funnier scenes with some really pretty dark dramatic stuff. This is, of course, due in large part to the fantastic scriptwriting - but it's also carried perfectly by the cast. I'm perhaps a little bit biased because I've been head-over-heels in love with Robert Sheehan since the Misfits days, and putting him in eyeliner and leather trousers just makes him a thousand times hotter to my eye, but his character of Klaus (aka Number 4) is far and away my favourite on the show. Each of the characters is complex and interesting in their own right, but there's something uniquely fascinating to me about Klaus that had me in love with/rooting for him the entire time. The twist towards the end (which I won't share because we don't do spoilers here) was tense, shocking and brilliantly carried out.
Of course, we can't be sitting here talking about The Umbrella Academy without bringing up that soundtrack. Featuring classic hits from the likes of Adam Ant, Tiffany, The Doors and Toploader, as well as more modern tunes from Paloma Faith, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and Woodkid, the music in the show is a perfect blend of vintage gloriousness and modern-day bops and good lord, that Gerard Way cover of Simon and Garfunkel's Hazy Shade of Winter gave me serious nostalgia back to the glory days of MCR. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I tell you I think this might be the best television soundtrack I've heard in literally years.
Overall, the show is perfectly written, perfectly cast and perfectly soundtracked, and that's supported by the fact that I binge-watched all seven and a half hours of it over two evenings. Warnings in place for some strong language, bloody violence and substance abuse. My overall rating is a strong 10/10. Anxiously awaiting season 2.
Keep it weird,
Jazz xo
