Die Säulen der Erde

I first came across Ken Follett's story through the adventure game by the German studio Daedelic. After finishing the game, I realized this epic historical tale was just begging for a film adaptation. So when I found out there was one, produced by the Scott brothers no less, I didn't hesitate to track it down. I mean, with the Scotts involved, how could it go wrong, right? But from the very first minute, I had a sinking feeling. The opening credits were promising—everything looked great, the intro music was a delight—but then the story kicked in... and it was a mess. The plot was unbelievably complicated, jumping from character to character without any logical flow, and the time shifts were never explained. Even though the sets were gorgeous and the medieval atmosphere was spot on, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was watching a medieval soap opera. It was a huge letdown. I only stuck with the series out of respect for the original story, since I knew what was coming from the game and was curious how the creators would handle it. In the end, it just barely earned three stars from me. Now, I guess I have no choice but to tackle the book series, even if each one is around a thousand pages long. (11.06.2021)