Lemony Snicket's harsh tale of torture for the three children Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire is taken to a more artistic approach in Netflix's most recent adaptation of the famous A Series Tale of Unfortunate Events.
Following the same narrative as the original story, each episode focuses on a different plot of Count Olaf's, and the children's attempts to use their wits to escape him, despite the sheer ignorance of the adults that surround them. It's annoying to witness such ignorance, but it's nice to see the children maintain their independence via their own individual skills: Violet is a fast thinker, and a builder. Klaus is filled with knowledge through his interest in books. Sunny has an interest in biting things, making her teeth often a god substitute for scissors.
Despite his evilness, Count Olaf is a great means of comic relief in the show, and the great performance by Neil Patrick Harris makes him a fun character to watch, especially with his universal acting skills--in regards to both the character Count Olaf and Neil Patrick Harris--throughout his various attempts to essentially make his way into every person's house in a Trojan horse manner.
Towards the end, the show does get a little strange, and I honestly cannot remember whether the unfortunate events were genuinely a series in the previous works and iterations of the story. It seems like an attempt to try something new, while also maintains pacing; the fact that there is a second season coming has me wondering just how many new things will be added to the show, and I'm okay with that overall. The base story is there, and that alone is told in an enjoyable fashion. A few innovations and replacements will breathe new air into an already well-known story.
It's worth watching, for sure, providing you aren't easily annoyed by dumb characters and their blatant errorous ways. It did take me a while to give it a second chance, given my first attempt to watch it just didn't catch with me. At almost an hour per episode, it's much better than the movies.
