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May 30, 2014 · With John Malkovich, Richard Coyle, Claire Foy, Yasmine Al Massri. The Longitude Chronometer, a device that will change the world, is stolen from HMS Petrel by pirates working for the legendary but supposedly long dead Edward Teach - better known as Blackbeard.
- (317)
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- David Slade
- 2014-05-30
May 30, 2014 · When infamous pirate Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, steals a game-changing navigational device, British spy Tom Lowe must work undercover to destroy it - and assassinate its new owner.
- ARRR!kovich.
- Verdict
By Matt Fowler
Posted: May 29, 2014 10:01 pm
Advance Review
: Given that the name of the show is Crossbones and not "Blackbeard," I'm a bit more forgiving of the fact that the character of Blackbeard, played by delightful over-ennunciating scene chewer John Malkovich, isn't as menacing or forceful a presence as the trailers for the series led me to believe. Still, Malkovich is the draw here, assuming you're not someone who will watch any old seafaring adventure because you're a uber-fan of the genre. So it's a rather odd choice to have his character feel so irrelevant by the end of the first episode.
Not irrelevant due to lack of screen time, but irrelevant due to the fact that Blackbeard, here shown as weary and more than happy to let the world believe he's long dead, is more of a pawn than a manipulator. And you'd expect him, with the gravitational force the character and performance creates, to be the Hannibal Lecter of the show - if I can, for a second, compare the show to NBC's amazing Hannibal. Because Blackbeard does square off, psychologically, with a "frenemy", in the form of high-level British officer Tom Lowe (Richard Coyle), who Blackbeard believes to be a physician. Truthfully though, Lowe is on an undercover mission to kill Backbeard at the behest of the Governor of Jamaica (Julian Sands). When you're Blackbeard, you can have two globes. That's just how it is.And so the two of them dance for a bit. "Two sharks circling each other" as another character puts it. But it becomes more than clear, early on, that one of the sharks is all bark and the other one is all bite. And Blackbeard comes off as a mountain of blustering threats, while Lowe cleverly schemes and plots. And, while I wont go into specifics, if not for certain "out of left field" swerves in the very final moments of "The Devil's Dominion," the show would be over. Which, again, doesn't exactly build up Blackbeard as the powerhouse antagonist the writers might be aiming for.
Also, it should be said that no one really expects Blackbeard to be the true "antagonist" here. Right? Any more than Red Reddington is the main villain of The Blacklist. The top bad guys are probably those who want to take down the so-called evildoer and so, I suspect, in time Blackbeard will morph into someone who's much more in control of his own fate. Given that, I'll give Crossbones a few more episodes. Which is what we look for in a pilot, right? An instilled desire to keep up with the story.
What we're left with, after the first episode of Crossbones, is a mediocre thriller devoid of the salts and spices that keep the pirate trade alive. It's not a terrible show by any means, though there's a chance that Malkovich's teeth gnashing may polarize. And turning Blackbeard into more of a peripheral player, with far more weaknesses than those...
May 31, 2014 · Crossbones: The Devil’s Dominion review. The premiere of Crossbones: The Legend of Blackbeard boasts a great cast, excellent production values, and John Malkovich. By TS Rhodes | May...
Jun 5, 2014 · Crossbones Episode 1 Recap – The Devil’s Dominion. Dan O'Halloran Legacy Author. |. Published: Jun 4, 2014 5:45 PM PDT. 0. Not even Malkolvich’ing like a boss can save this mediocre tale...
May 31, 2014 · Reviews. Crossbones Series Premiere Review: “The Devil’s Dominion” (Season 1, Episode 1) Comparisons between Crossbones, NBC's umpteenth attempt at launching a successful series this...
"Crossbones" The Devil's Dominion (TV Episode 2014) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
