Carmen Sandiego

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 18, 2019
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
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Critic Reviews

  1. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Steve Greene
    Jan 18, 2019
    83
    Carmen Sandiego continues the tradition of educational entertainment, but the show has lessons beyond a textbook. It offers an implicit crash course in espionage thriller parlance and conventions, all while giving younger viewers an educational gateway to a bigger world.
  2. Paste Magazine
    Reviewed by: Alexis Gunderson
    Jan 17, 2019
    82
    It is lovely to look at. It’s also refreshingly laid back in its pacing, despite the thrill built into its premise.
  3. Collider
    Reviewed by: Dave Trumbore
    Jan 14, 2019
    60
    t’s a bit unfortunate that the educational material is thrown at kids in an expositional lump rather than being threaded throughout the plot of the story itself to make it more meaningful, but that’s clearly not the intention here, for better or worse. Carmen Sandiego has a long way to go to earn our trust, but she’s off to a stylish start.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
  1. DavidG185
    Feb 9, 2019
    8
    Carmen Sandiego is a great Netflix exclusive show that differs quite decently to the modern world compare to the past television shows in theCarmen Sandiego is a great Netflix exclusive show that differs quite decently to the modern world compare to the past television shows in the 1980's and 1990's. While still maintaining the tradition of educational entertainment, the series is very much moral to the most popular line "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?". The twist is that this Netflix series shows that Carmen is not actually the villain but actually an anti-hero who steals priceless artifacts from other thieves which are mainly the antagonist filled world from the organisation VILE, said to be kept hidden in the shadows for 20 years. The praises well for its art style matching the Samurai Jack style in animation and has great plots as noted from watching the first two episodes being Origin episodes which sheads light onto the backstory of Carmen which is notable references back to that in many future episodes. With the help of Player, a white hat hacker, and a couple of assistances, Carmen goes on decent adventures to foil VILE's plans in many different ways in a lot of great places too with some including Australia, Indonesia, India, Ecuador and most notably France. The show gives us some nice unique facts about each location they visit said by Player and some of those places mentioned during those facts generally points out the locations that the plot follows on. The voice work is excellent with the cast, and the villains that Carmen has grown up to meet at VILE are very colorful and unique to their style and interest base on those classes that Carmen has done before her infamous escape. And don't worry, there is decent references to those game shows of the past with the same iconic phrase that the Inspector that is chasing Carmen always say in this show. With Season 2 also in the works, this is a very great Netflix show to watch, regardless of age. The education side is great for people who wants to know a bit about culture or even geography. It is also entertaining to watch, even after watching all the Season 1 episodes on Netflix. But to not spoil too much, the last episode of Season 1 will shock Carmen a lot more as well as the viewers.… Full Review »
  2. GrantD243
    Jan 30, 2019
    6
    Carmen Sandiego starts off strong with two entertaining episodes, but then it slowly gets itself stuck in a a rut of repetitiveness and whileCarmen Sandiego starts off strong with two entertaining episodes, but then it slowly gets itself stuck in a a rut of repetitiveness and while the story continues to progress...it's easy to lose interest.… Full Review »
  3. Davrosdaleks1
    Jan 24, 2019
    8
    A pretty competent reboot of Carmen Sandiego. Some may be annoyed that this time instead of the antagonist Carmen is a hero that steals fromA pretty competent reboot of Carmen Sandiego. Some may be annoyed that this time instead of the antagonist Carmen is a hero that steals from crooks. Personally, I just accepted it as something new. Besides in the cartoon Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, Carmen had a strict moral line she would not cross, so to me this is a natural progression.

    Like a lot of modern cartoons, this one has an overarching story and it works pretty well. Carmen has this whole interesting backstory of being a renegade formerly raised by a school for criminals. The villains themselves are pretty distinctive and fun. To be honest, they're more interesting than the protagonists.

    The show is still edutainment, but to be honest it seems a little cursory. They quickly spout out a fact blurb and move on with the story. The beginning and ending episodes don't even try as they're focusing on the plot. Those who remember the cartoon and the game show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego may be pleased to know that the show includes a few references to them. Fans of the latter may be disappointed to learn that the former has preference.

    There are a couple nitpicks to this. Carmen's allies Alex and Ivy have very annoying fake Boston accents. Also the insistent, comedy-relief cop who refuses to listen to reason gets old real fast.

    Animation has a stylish Samurai Jack-esque feel to it. Although the fluidity of the movements don't quite match.

    Cast is decent. Again, the ones playing the villains seem to have the most fun.    … Full Review »
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