22/28
The Day of the Jackal takes place
Narrative
The Jackal is an elusive assassin who makes his living by carrying out murders for top dollar. He soon meets his match: a dogged British intelligence officer who tracks him down in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe. Set in 1963, the novel is about an assassination attempt on then-French President Charles de Gaulle. The show shifts the setting to the current era.
Remake of The Day of the Jackal (1973)
The first two episodes scored a solid 8.5, but then it drops to a weak 6. My first criticism is that the title suggests this is a film adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s brilliant novel, but it bears no resemblance to that story. It’s like making an adaptation of Moby Dick, but without the whales. The reason I’m skipping the swoops is because the plot gets silly and silly.
I mean really?
A « Knack » finds him and is within 50 yards, firing about 80 shots and no one can land a direct hit. I hope I never have to be rescued by these guys. Horses outrunning V8 police vehicles? Really.
But my main complaint is what I call Netflix disease
The horrible padding of the scenes to stretch it out to 6 eps… Yes, we get it, shots of looking at room after room with no result fill up time but add nothing to the story or character development. This should have been a four-part series or a three-hour movie. A new season of « Silo » is one of the biggest TV and streaming premieres this month.