Why you need to watch Umbrella Academy

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A vivid screen adaptation of an excellent comic book with the most non-standard superhero story, lively characters and irony over all the templates of the genre.

Even the most inattentive viewer who does not follow fashion trends in films and TV shows will notice that we are living in an era of superhero stories. Marvel Studios releases three films and the same number of TV series a year. DC is doing its best to catch up with it and has already launched its own streaming service, and The CW is expanding its "Arrow Universe".

Of course, this inevitably led to oversaturation of the market. And from some point on, the authors of new projects began to present each of their films or TV series as "a non-standard comic strip that destroys the idea of …". But in reality, only one series has managed to do something really unusual so far - "Umbrella Academy". And there are several confirmations of this.

This is a very unusual comic

Most of these films and TV series are based on Marvel and DC comics, two of the largest studios. But "Umbrella Academy" is originally an author's project, not like the others.

This comic was created by Gerard Way, better known as the vocalist of the group My Chemical Romance. And the author's unusual personality is clearly manifested in his works. The fact is that at the time of writing Umbrella Academy, comics for Way were no longer main work, but simply a way of self-expression.

And so the story of an unusual family of superheroes was born, which saves the world, but cannot establish communication with each other. In the story of seven children, suddenly born to women who were not pregnant, were once collected and raised by an eccentric millionaire Reginald Hagreaves. Each of the heroes had their own superpowers, and the mentor from childhood insisted that someday they would have to save the world.

But the upbringing of the "father" was very harsh - he did not even give the wards names, calling them by serial numbers. And over time, the children began to hate him, believing that Hagreaves ruined their lives. They only got together again at his funeral. And there they learned that the world is really on the brink of an apocalypse and the Umbrella Academy must prevent a catastrophe.

Way's story was crazy in everything: starting with the unusual powers of these very heroes (for example, Rumor could change reality by spreading gossip, and Spaceboy's head was transplanted onto the body of a gorilla) and ending with the world around them, where aliens, zombies and battles in the ring with giant octopuses looked like the norm.

But the creator of the series, Steve Blackman, managed to do the almost impossible: he brought everything that happens to our reality, while preserving the full depth of the story. And it only did her good.

This is a touching family story

So, the main plot of the series repeats the first volume of the comics: the heroes are going to the funeral of their father. From a long-lost team member, they learn that the world will soon come to an end, and only Umbrella Academy can prevent it. But there is one problem: the guys do not know who or what caused the apocalypse.

In general, the plot resembles many superhero stories, and the beginning of the first series seems to hint that further these strange people will fight some kind of universal evil and constantly argue with each other. But by the end of the episode, it becomes clear that Umbrella Academy is about something else entirely.

If we compare the series with the popular projects of recent times, then it is much closer to last year's hit "The Haunting of the Hill House" than to any "Titans". First of all, the viewer is shown the story of people who grew up, but could neither find their place in the world, nor forgive their father for a crippled childhood.

They seem to have resigned themselves and even forgot about the traumas of the past, but returning to the parental home opens up old wounds and complexes. And instead of jointly saving the world, the heroes break down on each other.

Umbrella Academy is not about superheroes, but about children on whom the parents pinned too high hopes, forgetting to ask the child's opinion. About children from large families, whom they forgot to wish good night, and all the upbringing remained with their grandmothers and other relatives - it is no coincidence that the members of the Academy had a robot instead of a mother.

These are bright and unusual characters

It would seem that the history of outcasts with superpowers is now no longer surprising. Every second movie comic book hero, starting with Spider-Man, goes from a loser to a popularly beloved alter ego. But Umbrella Academy turns it inside out. In the world of the series, the team of superchildren was loved from the very beginning: they wrote comics about them, made their figurines, and crowds of fans were waiting for their autograph.

All but Number Seven - Vani (Ellen Page). And all because she had no ability. In contrast to the plots where the heroes suffer from their unusual qualities, the authors show a situation where the worst thing is to be an ordinary person.

This resonates very well with modern society, where everyone is trying to prove that they are not like the others. Or with those families where there is a child prodigy, there is a tomboy pet, but there is just a child who is forgotten. And Vanya is an ordinary girl who has lived her whole life in the shadow of her gifted brothers and sisters.

And the only thing she decided on was to write a book about it, for which all her relatives hated her. This moment, by the way, again echoes with "Haunting of the Hill House", where there was a similar situation.

The rest of the characters are also no less curious. Perhaps the two simplest are Number One and Number Two - Luther (Tom Hopper) and Diego (David Castaneda). Two opposite leaders, each of whom is not used to giving in. At the same time, one is still sure that his father did the right thing, while the other is affectionately attached to his mother.

Number Three - Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) - seems to have achieved everything she wanted in life. But I never found happiness, because it was all dishonest. Number Four, Klaus, is in charge of the comedy component. He is played by Robert Sheehan, and at first it seems like he just returned to his role from the famous "Dregs". He again balances on the brink of charming and disgusting, turning any situation into a farce.

But here's what's interesting: this time his hero has an explanation for such actions. In Dregs, he seemed like a common idiot. Here you can see that for a guy this is the only way not to go crazy with horror. And from the middle of the plot, Klaus surprisingly becomes the character who wants to sympathize most of all.

And separately you need to highlight Number Five. Fifteen-year-old actor Aidan Gallagher is simply incomparable playing an elderly, hardened killer stuck in the body of a child. It's funny and touching at the same time.

It is irony over patterns and destruction of stereotypes

Of course, there would be no point in placing such heroes in a standard setting. And therefore, even the plot is unusual here. As they once said about the graphic novel by Alan Moore "Keepers" (and then about the film adaptation by Zach Snyder): "This is a comic for those who do not read comics."

Likewise, Umbrella Academy can be called a superhero TV show for those who don't like superhero TV shows. After all, here they manage to destroy all possible patterns.

And the point is not only that, in the likeness of all the same "Guardians", the viewer is shown that opposites do not attract, but constantly argue and scandal. And it's not that the villains here sometimes look more touching than the heroes (and this is really so).

An important idea of Umbrella Academy is that as soon as it starts to seem as if the authors are using some kind of standard, they will tell about it directly from the screen. And, perhaps, they will even joke about this topic. The indispensable idea that superpowers do not help the heroes to solve problems at all, is also clearly provided by the authors.

There is even a great irony here about the eternal accusations against Netflix about dragging out the timing of the series - one episode literally does nothing for the plot. And this series also has an amazing love story. Absolutely not the one that all viewers will expect, and therefore the most sincere and emotional.

But breaking templates doesn't look malicious here. This isn't the harsh comic book sarcasm that DC's Doomsday Patrol looks like with a similar storyline but a completely different morality. Umbrella Academy is just a story on its own. She will find feedback both from fans of superhero series and from those who are looking for a real live drama about ordinary people who, only years later, were able to let go of their childhood and began to truly live.