The Umbrella Academy

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Feb 15, 2019
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 298 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 206 out of 298
  2. Mixed: 52 out of 298
  3. Negative: 40 out of 298

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  1. McGillotine
    Mar 2, 2019
    4
    The issue with The Umbrella Academy is that it spends more time thinking it’s great as opposed to actually being great. With vivid visual spectacles and a charade of quirky characters, The Umbrella Academy was Netflix’s ticket into the ever-growing superhero scene. However, lack-luster direction, cheesy stay-tuned gimmicks, and weak writing, make the series both predictable and forgettableThe issue with The Umbrella Academy is that it spends more time thinking it’s great as opposed to actually being great. With vivid visual spectacles and a charade of quirky characters, The Umbrella Academy was Netflix’s ticket into the ever-growing superhero scene. However, lack-luster direction, cheesy stay-tuned gimmicks, and weak writing, make the series both predictable and forgettable all by the second episode.

    The Umbrella Academy follows the lives of the Hargreeves children, who were all born under mysterious circumstances on the same day and all bear some form superpower except for the family’s black sheep, Vanya (Ellen page). Following the mysterious death of their adoptive father, Reginald (Colm Feore) and the strange re-emergence of their long-lost brother Number Five (Aidan Gallagher), the long-estranged siblings find themselves needing to unite to stop the impeding apocalypse.

    It becomes apparent from the first episode that the main issue with The Umbrella Academy is the direction and pacing of the project itself. While the first episode of the series is given that little extra polish to entice the viewer to watch more, the later episodes of the series seem stapled together in a way that seems disorganised and out of place. Key scenes appear to be removed from episodes and placed in other episodes, unnecessarily dragging out events. This serves for no good reason especially in a Netflix series where can watch one episode after another like it’s a long movie as opposed to a week by week basis show like Game of Thrones. In addition to quality of the show declining as it progresses it also demonstrates its love for clichés especially within the final episodes with a tacked-on love story, series of stupid character decisions, hilariously bad special effects on a certain character, and an underwhelming final act cementing the shows mediocrity.

    Acting is pretty damn forgettable two for the most part, while the actors playing characters such as Number Five, Hazel, Klaus and Reginald do a damn fine job, I found that I didn’t care what happened to anyone else. Perhaps to some extent that is due in part to some personal bias as I’ve never liked Ellen Page’s acting to begin with. Characters who I couldn’t stand onscreen among others were ‘Stone Face’ Luthor, Vanya, Cha-Cha, Diego and perhaps most of all Allison whom I just found annoying and unintentionally hilarious in the last two episodes due to her ridiculous situation. Maybe this is in part to the direction, but I did not buy these actors as convincing portrayals of their characters.

    In the end The Umbrella Academy is simple popcorn entertainment. It isn’t particularly fun, and it doesn’t much deserve a continued existence as a TV show when far superior programs are getting cancelled. But in that being said Altered Carbon got a season 2 so I clearly know nothing.    … Expand
  2. Katalkyste
    Feb 22, 2019
    5
    good plot, nice characters (mostly) but

    WAY to dragged out.. you could skip 45 minutes per episode and you are still good to follow. also every scene with number 7 can be deleted fromt he first two episodes since they dont do anything for the plot in general (dont want to spoil here but of course she is a key person, why else would you hire a well known hollywood actor?) . a small    good plot, nice characters (mostly) but

    WAY to dragged out.. you could skip 45 minutes per episode and you are still good to follow. also every scene with number 7 can be deleted fromt he first two episodes since they dont do anything for the plot in general (dont want to spoil here but of course she is a key person, why else would you hire a well known hollywood actor?) . a small infomation" would have done the trick, ellen paige is absolutely wasted here in this role in the first episodes . narration would have done the trick also.

    (+) nice idea, good setting and filming Craftmansship
    (-) horrible boring dragged out filler material (aka "Drama" ) between the one or two important or interessting scenes per episode.

    hopefully it will get better somewhen.. in season 2    … Expand
  3. PandaKadaver
    Feb 17, 2019
    5
    Very interesting characters and complex plot meets terrible writing, overused soundtracks and especially all the wasted potential of what a great show that could have be. Disappointing!
  4. Mrpoposs
    Mar 2, 2019
    4
    This is a show where everything magically falls into place. It started with great production and cast, but gets cheesy and shallow as it goes on. It’s a show good enough for kids and adults who just want simple entertainment. The drama in the story fails to wrap me emotionally as it’s human interaction at a 13 yr old level. The action starts falling flat, as well as the story tellingThis is a show where everything magically falls into place. It started with great production and cast, but gets cheesy and shallow as it goes on. It’s a show good enough for kids and adults who just want simple entertainment. The drama in the story fails to wrap me emotionally as it’s human interaction at a 13 yr old level. The action starts falling flat, as well as the story telling becomes cliche and obvious. It had potential and not even its millionaire production could save it’s world from it’s own end.… Expand
  5. raporgi
    Feb 17, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. why the phuuck is every show or comic trying to be the X-men? not as horrid as the turgid Marvel shows but this show wastes too much time on drama AGAIN. Everybody needs to have some dark secret. its like its the same pool of writers ripping of the same material over and over.… Expand
  6. LegendaryLass
    Feb 18, 2019
    4
    The top notch production value and intriguing mysteries of the first half of Umbrella Academy make it seem worthwhile to overlook the flaws of those episodes. It has competent family drama and an interesting if derivative premise. After all, it's hardly the first Netflix show to be thought of as such.
    But where Stranger Things skillfully and surgically appropriates moments and themes,    The top notch production value and intriguing mysteries of the first half of Umbrella Academy make it seem worthwhile to overlook the flaws of those episodes. It has competent family drama and an interesting if derivative premise. After all, it's hardly the first Netflix show to be thought of as such.
    But where Stranger Things skillfully and surgically appropriates moments and themes, it becomes apparent that Umbrella Academy is smashing in entire plots from other shows, films and comic books like a car crusher; the resulting cube is as ugly as it sounds.
    Even the phrase "stealing" seems too light, "unashamedly replicating" would be better. Everything gets thrown into the plot: the X-Men, Carrie, Looper, the Incredibles, Ghost, Lancelot Link, Flight of the Navigator, Captain Triumph, even the Terminator and Death Becomes Her to some extent. The result is an illogical, schizophrenically toned and unevenly paced endgame, patched over with inappropriate, mis-timed and just plain basic needle drops (Heart's "Barracuda" especially starts in the wrong place and is so off-tone this reviewer actually laughed out loud).
    It's something to see but only if you're prepared to watch, mouth agape, at this trainwreck of a show that constantly breaks it's own rules, has drama that starts and stops on a dime, characters that just plain don't sharing crucial information for no good reason and about 2.5 action sequences for the entire 10 hours.
    At times I was wondering if I accidentally put on one of the Mystery Science Theater episodes by accident.    … Expand
  7. Soluafin
    Feb 19, 2019
    4
    It isn't terrible, but it's definitely far removed from being 'good'.

    One problem with a show like this that involves a young/child actor in a mature role, is that you MUST have a good actor for that role - and they do not. They apparently think the way you make a child look mature is by having him furrow his brow in literally 95% of scenes. The child acting is borderline laughable, and    It isn't terrible, but it's definitely far removed from being 'good'.

    One problem with a show like this that involves a young/child actor in a mature role, is that you MUST have a good actor for that role - and they do not. They apparently think the way you make a child look mature is by having him furrow his brow in literally 95% of scenes. The child acting is borderline laughable, and the adult acting is subpar at best. The only one that does some decent acting is Ellen Page, but unfortunately she does a lot of overacting in key moments that just feels too forced.

    The plot is pretty convoluted and at many points outright ridiculous. The writing is a mess and just all over the place, with it clear that they aren't sure if they're trying to be serious, dramatic, or funny - opting sometimes to appear to try doing all three at once. Production quality is middling, with recycled locations (think cars going around the same corner repeatedly kind of thing) when plot-wise it's supposed to be different locations, and CGI that's a mix of okay in some places, and obviously bad in others. On top of that, the sound dubbing is mismatched at moments with the sounds just completely not fitting the scene.

    Speaking of sounds, Netflix has really got a lot of love for Guardians of the Galaxy, and they're pulling hard on this one with a nostalgia-focused soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to do, especially in some action sequences, but I swear to god they did it somehow or another in every. single. episode. Just often enough to make it kind of annoying.

    Don't let my critical review fool you, there's potential here and it has room to rebound and maybe improve a bit, but this first season is quite a mess. If you watch the trailer, you'll see that time travel is factor in this show, but the plot doesn't really address this quite enough, so that the plot is just a mess. Like with anything time travel, the stakes are always low when you can 'go back' to fix things. And personally, I found the ending to be very predictable and extremely unsatisfying.

    Also comes with all the current socio-political tropes for the medium. Doesn't bother all of us, some folks even love it, but if that kind of thing bothers you then consider yourself warned.

    Overall, I'd say if you're bored and have nothing to do, it might be worth the watch for a little entertainment. But I'd recommend keeping your phone handy so you can pull up something interesting to do here and there while you watch it. It's just not good enough to grab your attention and keep it locked on, and for the moments when it does you'll probably find yourself thinking 'time travel could fix/prevent this, though.'

    IMO, 4/10 is a fair score. There are enough flaws to make it worse than average, but enough potential that I'm not willing to call it outright bad. But it comes damn close.    … Expand
  8. UncleWillard
    Mar 12, 2019
    4
    Just when I put my foot down and swear off superhero movies/TV, someone finds a way to entice me back in (my apologies to Al Pacino and Little Stevie Van Zandt for that terrible impression). This looked to be a comic version of the X-men and in the first few episodes, that's what it was. Then it got too corny for me. I gotta say that the big drawback was Ellen Page. I'm just not a fan. IJust when I put my foot down and swear off superhero movies/TV, someone finds a way to entice me back in (my apologies to Al Pacino and Little Stevie Van Zandt for that terrible impression). This looked to be a comic version of the X-men and in the first few episodes, that's what it was. Then it got too corny for me. I gotta say that the big drawback was Ellen Page. I'm just not a fan. I think she did one thing good once and has been dining out on her performance in Juno ever since. And why not just make that character gay? Of all the unacceptable artistic freedom networks seem to be taking with source material, this is easily one that we can all get behind. Nope. I couldn't finish the season and I'm back to my boycott of superhero movies. The four stars is for getting me back on track.… Expand
  9. iliaz
    Feb 27, 2019
    6
    Двоякое впечатление, отличная идея и местами провальная реализация. Авторы местами хотят перевернуть всё с ног на голову, встряхнуть тебя, но выходит не всегда. Очень напомнило Детективное агенство Дирка Джентли по сумбурности.Двоякое впечатление, отличная идея и местами провальная реализация. Авторы местами хотят перевернуть всё с ног на голову, встряхнуть тебя, но выходит не всегда. Очень напомнило Детективное агенство Дирка Джентли по сумбурности.
  10. ReubenIsAGod
    Aug 1, 2020
    5
    Fun to watch. Very flashy. Great Soundtrack...writing is really bad. Characters can be FUN! But boy! That plot isn't very good. Wish it was also more surreal. But aye, second season is better.
  11. BioTofu
    Apr 8, 2019
    6
    Watchable. Fairly weak acting paired with convoluted character motives made the first half difficult to watch. The second half gets better with more stake at hand. Difficult to care much about any of the characters. If you enjoyed the first season of Heroes, it might be worth your time to watch this show. Unfortunately, the dysfunctional family element of the show was interesting but neverWatchable. Fairly weak acting paired with convoluted character motives made the first half difficult to watch. The second half gets better with more stake at hand. Difficult to care much about any of the characters. If you enjoyed the first season of Heroes, it might be worth your time to watch this show. Unfortunately, the dysfunctional family element of the show was interesting but never utilized to its full potential. Some of the twists were too predictable.… Expand
  12. SeussMyTub
    Mar 17, 2019
    5
    There's some interesting characters and a nice twist to the tired superhero genre, but in the end it's way too slow and convoluted. It focuses too much on the more boring protagonists, and the plot lurches from the satirical to the ridiculous. It's like the X-Men meets Jimmy Neutron. The ending is also a major letdown.
  13. Allanbaxter
    Apr 16, 2019
    6
    Here is the deal with this film, it was entertaining but it's not great. But it did get me to watch 10 episodes. Sure it could have used a bit more substance, but let me ask you this. If you don't like it, don't watch all 10. But if you do, don't bash it too hard, or I have to ask you why you stayed watching it that long.
  14. ARGzelder
    Mar 29, 2019
    6
    Estando entre las mayores tendencias los super héroes "The Umbrella Academy" aparece como una extravagante opción entre las adaptaciones de cómics a ficción televisiva. El concepto puede ser difícil de atrapar pero en el momento en que te adentras a ésta serie le puedes agarrar el gusto.
    La historia trata sobre un grupo de superhumanos quiénes fueron adoptados tras un extraño suceso que    Estando entre las mayores tendencias los super héroes "The Umbrella Academy" aparece como una extravagante opción entre las adaptaciones de cómics a ficción televisiva. El concepto puede ser difícil de atrapar pero en el momento en que te adentras a ésta serie le puedes agarrar el gusto.
    La historia trata sobre un grupo de superhumanos quiénes fueron adoptados tras un extraño suceso que hizo a varias mujeres quedar embarazadas instantáneamente y dieran a luz sin razón explicable a niños con habilidades únicas. Años después los chicos se reúnen en su adultez para despedir a su padre adoptivo e investigar su supuesto asesinato.
    Una de las complicaciones al ver ésta serie es que la información es avasallante porque recibes novedades constantemente sin tener una posibilidad de entender la trama hasta avanzada la serie, no sería una complicación si no quedaran incógnitas o fueran más regulares con la devolución de respuestas.
    El elenco funciona bien, hay muchas críticas sobre Netflix y su selección de actores, pero en éste caso puede haber diferencias con el material original pero funcionan para entregar un mejor drama. Una de las grandes virtudes de la tira es la coreografía en las escenas de acción, a veces son el único motivo que te hace seguir viendo la serie. Las peleas son frenéticas, y se dejan ver, hay mucha creatividad al momento de los disturbios.
    Si hay un punto negativo que destacar es la actuación, aunque sea a propósito, cada personaje parece tener una emoción como personalidad y hay algunos personajes demasiado acartonados. Complica mucho empatizar con los protagonistas cuando sólo uno o dos son los que brindan algo a la pantalla, Allison y Klaus.
    En general no es una serie para todo el mundo, si una interesante para quiénes tengan el gusto de ver tramas complicadas con desencadenantes inesperados. No es de lo mejor pero cumple entreteniendo, y tiene un cierre satisfactorio.    … Expand
  15. omeratli
    Mar 9, 2019
    6
    An enjoyable comic based tv series,but it's very unforgetable too.You can see it if you have a free weekend and have a popcorn with it.
  16. Djakeir
    Feb 18, 2019
    6
    This is not one to binge watch but a show you can enjoy coming back to. The production is very much true to Netflix style, which is very polished and a high budget clearly evident. Netflix seemingly can't make a genuinely interesting comic book/ super hero series as it clearly is engulfed by the money hungry franchise of marvel and DC and Netflix can only pick up the scraps to make aThis is not one to binge watch but a show you can enjoy coming back to. The production is very much true to Netflix style, which is very polished and a high budget clearly evident. Netflix seemingly can't make a genuinely interesting comic book/ super hero series as it clearly is engulfed by the money hungry franchise of marvel and DC and Netflix can only pick up the scraps to make a spin-off. However, this show does offer something new and is mostly entertaining. The premise is good, it has a solid concept, some good characters and arcs. The show has flaws which aren't systemic but rather are confined in some plot details, characters and actors. Some characters come off as boring and others just plain annoying. The show is highly repetitive with characters having the same arguments over the same thing and seemingly making amends by saying the same thing. The show is 10 episodes long but I do think a shorter season with certain elements and dialogue left out would make this season a bit less cumbersome. Overall, I appreciate this show and what netflix has managed to do with it and I hope this marks a turning point in what this genre on netflix can be like.… Expand
  17. hello_world
    Mar 9, 2019
    6
    The show can be fun, but you can't think about it too much as there are a few weird things that happen that don't make sense. I'm not referring to things that are intentionally weird like a talking monkey butler, but rather certain actions and character reactions that don't make a whole lot of sense even in the context of a world with super heroes.

    The cast is likeable enough. I    The show can be fun, but you can't think about it too much as there are a few weird things that happen that don't make sense. I'm not referring to things that are intentionally weird like a talking monkey butler, but rather certain actions and character reactions that don't make a whole lot of sense even in the context of a world with super heroes.

    The cast is likeable enough. I personally didn't like 5 or Klaus too much, but I foresee them being the most popular characters and I understand why. The pacing can be quite slow at times, but it does pick up. They made some changes that comic readers would probably take issue with, but for those without that background those won't impact your experience. Overall it's engaging enough to keep your interest all throughout.    … Expand
  18. uqbal
    Mar 26, 2019
    4
    Well, this show does have some strengths, but it is overall disappointing. Some of the characters are undoubtedly interesting (Klaus, Vanya and Five, mostly), but the others are, quite surprisingly, fairly shallow. The show is also surely atmospheric, but it does not go much beyond this.

    The plot is fragile and mostly based on family conflicts which hardly go anywhere or do so very    Well, this show does have some strengths, but it is overall disappointing. Some of the characters are undoubtedly interesting (Klaus, Vanya and Five, mostly), but the others are, quite surprisingly, fairly shallow. The show is also surely atmospheric, but it does not go much beyond this.

    The plot is fragile and mostly based on family conflicts which hardly go anywhere or do so very slowly, as the Hargreeves siblings seem incapacitated to speak clearly, coordinate or just to show some common sense. This is partly justified by their family story, but the script relies a bit too much on this. The result is that motivations behind the villains' action remain unclear while the Hargreeves family hardly accomplish anything.
    In addition to this, the show has a slow pace and wastes time in useless flashbacks or details, so I progressively lost interest.    … Expand
  19. Lucas_t
    Aug 17, 2020
    6
    The first year of "The Umbrella Academy" bothered me a little, the pace is terrible, the episodes are too long for little plot, the characters are underdeveloped (exceptions: Vanya, Klaus and Five). However, comic reliefs work very well in all areas that they are put into.

Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Most Discussed TV Season of 2019
30
#30 Most Shared TV Season of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
  1. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Ed Power
    Jan 3, 2020
    80
    The Umbrella Academy is a reminder caped crusader adaptations can be delightful and insightful along with punch-drunk and deafening. It’s as bonkers as anything – but a brolly good show to boot.
    Read full review
  2. The Telegraph
    Reviewed by: Catherine Gee
    Jan 3, 2020
    60
    As a production, it is incredibly stylish. Clearly a fair bit of money has been spent here. And there are enough good ideas in its multifaceted story to please some fans of the comic book – and comics in general. But if it does return for a second run, it would be nice to see some more genuinely fresh ideas – without the over-reliance on tried, tested and tired tropes from years past.
    Read full review
  3. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    Dec 30, 2019
    50
    Too much of the series, though, suffers from the same grey emotional palate and cement pacing that have afflicted every other Netflix superhero show. ... Ellen Page is utterly wasted until the season’s last two episodes, by which point Umbrella Academy has squandered most of the goodwill its occasional bursts of stylistic inspiration have generated.
    Read full review
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