Hunters (2020)

The series has a lush and vibrant production design, an overwhelmingly array of stylistic touches, rich and vibrant writing — and appropriately oversized, comic-book performances from a terrific cast.

It’s gratifying to see that Hunters is doing more complicated stuff than the pulp fiction Nazi-hunting it implies on the box; in between the bright colors and droll needle drops, there’s a sense of grief and memory and loss that underpins all of the escapist fun the show feeds you.

The majority of Hunters works — at least in the first five episodes.

Hunters‘ usage of many of these same techniques [as Watchmen] sometimes feels scattershot, slapped together carelessly, a rainstorm of ideas without the want of a unifying umbrella. The show is still worth your time and mental energy — and its fifth episode ends with some character twists that will make me keep watching — but be warned. Blunt times call for blunt stories — and this story is interested in making blunt impacts in every single direction.

Created by David Weil and executive produced by Jordan Peele, the show is audacious, tonally complex, not always in control of its message, visually arresting, and, particularly in its grim flashbacks to the brutalities and the courage in the death camps, moving.

It may not deliver on all cylinders, but there is enough of a spark here to keep the car running.

While there’s still five more episodes left for the series to make a topical point about the re-proliferation of Nazis, so far “Hunters” is more concerned with spinning a good yarn. Its sturdy construction should be able to deliver on that front, but it remains to be seen if it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Proudly outrageous thriller set in 1977. [2 - 15 Mar 2020, p.9]

Richly inventive and also frequently appalling. ... Matters like this aside, along with the graphic torture scenes, there’s much that’s compelling about this buoyant and ambitious series, not least its detailed picture of the Nazi-hunting team pursuing leads.

I recommend the show—it’s smart and unpredictable—but I don’t recommend watching too many consecutively. It’s a lot.

Hunters is such an enticing premise as to overcome its execution problems, at least for a while. But the tone of this Amazon series -- which counts Al Pacino among its ensemble cast -- varies wildly, leaving behind a show that isn't bad, but which really should be a whole lot better.