Series Review: Ark: The Animated Series, the excellence between games and dinosaurs

Dinosaurs and their prehistoric world are something that has continued to fascinate the audience for decades, each reinvention in their stories and presentations, whether in films, television series, documentaries, comics, novels, collectible figures, video games, etc., has its place and success among locals and strangers, with children being the ones who have enjoyed these colossal creatures the most.

Whether there are original stories or adaptations, it is difficult for everything to be and feel authentic and credible, for what we are going to see hear or read to capture us and take us on a journey where we can interact and feel part of a world in which that we interact with the main characters and of course the dinosaurs.

Steven Spielberg is largely to blame because dinosaurs have been reinvented and modernized. In 1992 he adapted the popular novel written by Michael Crichton for the film Jurassic Park, already considered a science fiction classic and which gave way to a long franchise. cinema and video games have not been the exception, cases such as the Turok, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Dino Crisis, Primal Rage, and Ark franchises have been very popular on consoles such as Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation, in which as players we can defend and defend ourselves against these creatures.

In the very particular case of Ark (2015) things are reinvented, and in 2024 the popular game releases an animated series that is deceptively not for a children’s audience, promising that what will be seen is explicit and violent entertainment for adults.

What is the series about?

Helena Walker (Madeleine Madden) is an Australian paleontologist who suddenly wakes up and finds herself alone in the middle of a vast ocean. After being attacked and escaping from a megalodon, she arrives ashore on a strange island where she meets Bob (Karl Urban). ) and a wild Dodo, together with them she will discover a strange new world inhabited by dinosaurs, warring tribes, and strange technology, making new allies and new enemies Helena will do whatever it takes to survive and hopefully find a way to return to his world and his time.

As an audience that is apart from video games, the premise immediately reminds us of the animated series Primal (2019) created by Genndy Tartakovsky in which we see a prehistoric man and a dinosaur living dangerous adventures and facing ruthless enemies, we could say that this is not It is so original and that it falls into the modern cliché of we already know that they will survive but at the same time we enjoy the emotion and action.

Although we know that the genre of science fiction and action films based on video games have not had the expected success among the public, some of them have been strongly criticized for their lack of originality and a good story, unlike others that have the opposite problem, a story that is too long, this has been compared in a way where for example a few hours of gameplay can cover the same amount with ten minutes of the film, resulting in a much longer adaptation in which explore different perspectives of the same story.

Ark: The Animated Series has a long and concrete story that still gives a lot to adapt, the concept of narrating in a non-linear way allows itself to be longer and cover more seasons to know the greatest part of the game’s story and this in turn can be divided so that it can work in a television format for all those who do not know or have not played the video game.

The latter is the highest point it has to present, everything is explained in each of the 6 episodes that make up this first part of the first season:

Element 1
Paleontologist Helena Walker wakes up on an island full of strange beasts where she will have to adapt and survive along with Bob.

Element 2
Helena flees from the explorers/hunters led by Nerva when she meets a new ally named Meiyin who will help her discover this new and dangerous world.

Element 3
Helena and Meiyin along the way find new allies in a tree-dwelling village led by a Lakota warrior and his adopted daughter, a disease that ravages the villagers brings everyone together in a quest to find a cure.

Element 4
Helena and her allies try to free prisoners in a mining camp, when Helena’s plans go awry, she and Alasie are captured.

Element 5
Nerva unleashes a harsh surprise attack against John’s village, the casualties among the population are noticeable and he will have the help of someone unexpected.

Element 6
On the verge of discovering how to return to Helena’s time and place, John and Henry risk everything to rescue Meiyin from Nerva’s cruelty.

During the development of these episodes, we meet the characters from different periods of history between the past and the future, Helena meets and befriends Meiyin Li (Michelle Yeoh) an archer from the Chinese Han dynasty who tries to free the people of Ark from the tyranny of the Roman general Gaius Marcellus Nerva (Gerard Butler), Nerva is a conqueror who intends to dominate the entire island, there is also the Lakota archer (Zahn McClarnon), the young Inuit healer Alasie (Devery Jacobs). Together, they will also try to fight against the true villain of this series, Sir Edmund Rockwell (David Tennant), a Victorian scientist who betrayed Meiyin and seeks to exploit Ark in his way and who with the alliance he has with Nerva and the help of the three artifacts, (Green, red and blue) plan to take the army they have made in Ark out of that time vortex and conquer our time and reality.

Comparisons and changes between the series and the video game are inevitable. If we put it in another context, the story is told differently and has a freer adaptation. The story of these episodes, just like in the game, requires a dose of graphic and explicit violence that characterizes it, this being a material for adults that is completely removed from a typical story, mixing elements of the past with technology from the future makes it have a plus point in its development even though this element is not entirely original.

At the end of episode 6 we are already clear that Ark is a prefabricated world with a specific purpose that is at a point between the past and the future where it serves as a training ground for something bigger that we do not yet know, this is the part in which screenwriters Marguerite Bennett and Kendall Deacon Davis join forces with video game creators Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak to create an alternate story that contains different elements and can be seen from a freer perspective that gives them the opportunity to do things that They were not contemplated for the game saga, nor is there a moral message that empowers women or that what is important is love, family, collaboration, friendship or that praises their inclusion and diversity and blah blah blah, it is very Of course, this is an audiovisual show with a deep background that involves and focuses more on survival than on the path of a hero, which there is but it is not something that has to be present at every moment, there is so much to see and There’s so much to tell that they don’t waste time on situations that lead nowhere or on filler sequences that only get in the way and don’t contribute, here they get straight to the point.

The structure of its main story allows each character to have a presentation, a motive, and a clear and concise characterization. As the story progresses, the mysteries develop subplots that involve everyone and a more general and broader visualization is offered. of what this world is and what we as viewers can expect, seeing with care and detail so many characters from different times, spaces and cultures coming together to defend their habitat is a feat in itself and a great achievement, each one has a personality defined that makes them unique.

As an adaptation of a game that complies with the rule and the main objective of the protagonist which is survival, we see that Helena, being alone in a wild and dangerous world, needs Meiyin and her group to carry out this main mission, the environment of Ark It is relentless and constantly changing as Helena and Meiyin have to face different dangers to find food, shelter and allies, which means they must stay alert at all times and test themselves how far they will go to stay alive. alive and able to escape this world and return to his time.

The structure of its story and subplots is what allows itself to have a non-linear development in which we see flashbacks where Helena continues to remember the loss of her partner Victoria (Elliot Page). Although we know that she is not alone and that he has new friends in Ark, pain is always present and is what he uses as a motivator to get out of each of the dangers, if before he had the cowardice of wanting to commit suicide, now it is the opposite, his desire to survive and returning to where it belongs is stronger than anything else, a more realistic representation of post-traumatic stress disorder in a more nuanced and understandable recreation, the dinosaurs play a vital supporting role, they are not only beasts of burden but they are also part of the environment, whether domesticated or wild, those that are at the service of warriors and those that are pets, and their best moments are when they bond with humans.

The animation is a mix between traditional and very moderate CGI, which makes it visually impressive, having a great aesthetic reference from anime with Western influence, each shot made by directors Jeremy Stieglitz, Jay Oliva, David Hartman, Sebastian Montes, and Chase Conley It looks and feels realistic, all the characters resemble historically real people and the aesthetics of their time, creating a feeling of unity within this great diversity, the design of the dinosaurs is carefully cared for in detail, giving them a texture and personality So that they look and feel as real as possible within what their animation allows, we see them dirty, with scales, with feathers of varied and bright colors, with movements and expressions closer to the representations that we already know.

The sound design is another element that plays greatly in favor of the plot, sounds of animals, fauna in general, clashes in fights, the humming of insects, and even the waves of the sea are felt and appreciated as something that They were taken from a real world, each sound is strategically designed and recorded to be remixed and provides indispensable support to what we see, together with the animation the work results in something impeccable.

The impressive voice cast includes Madeleine Madden, Gerard Butler, David Tennant, Michelle Yeoh, Zahn McClarnon, Devery Jacobs, Jeffrey Wright, Karl Urban, Elliot Page, Malcolm McDowell, Alan Tudyk, Vin Diesel, Russell Crowe and Monica Bellucci. each one understands their character and they do the best they can with the script, each one of them works very well with their character perfectly in their role, from subtle and harmonious voices to those that are stronger, dominant, and authoritarian, and important detail to What is worth mentioning and what must be celebrated in a production like this is that each Australian indigenous or aboriginal character has a voice actor appropriate for their race.

Gareth Coker is the perfect composer for the music of this series, his previous works include Ori and the Blind Forest, ARK: Survival Evolved, ARK: Survival Ascended, and Halo Infinite, it has pieces that very subtly sample what was made for the video game having these his personality and participation in each episode, which makes it a complete and very entertaining audiovisual show, an impeccable work that helps its plot and does not remain just background noise.

Despite the delay due to the global situation of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the lack of promotion by Paramount, the series arrives at a time when this platform can consolidate its productions while being up to date. height of what Apple TV has done, they are not just filler programs, they are products that can be very well positioned to the audience’s taste, compared to the HALO live-action experiment that did not work, this series works better than anyone could expect exceeding any expectations.

In conclusion, Ark: The Animated Series shows us that good adaptations of video games with a good story can be made in the right hands, works like this are the ones that pleasantly surprise us when we are looking for something different and exciting in a very misunderstood genre in a time in which any adaptation, sequel, prequel or reboot is already synonymous with failure, although the series is not so original, its concept is very well managed and focused on what it wants to convey to us, it is not just more entertainment, it is a job which dignifies its genre and gives the possibility of having more seasons, which we are already looking forward to.

Ark: The Animated Series arrives on the Paramount + platform this April 19.