The Sandman Somehow Makes Neil Gaiman's Weirdest Ideas Feel Completely Natural
Nerdy Up North
The setup
After being imprisoned by an occultist for more than a century, Dream escapes and sets out to rebuild his realm, recover the objects that hold his power and repair the damage caused by his long absence.
The Sandman always felt like one of those comics people would call unfilmable forever, mainly because it is not really one simple story. It can be dark fantasy, horror, mythology or a tiny character piece depending on which chapter you are in. The Netflix series wisely does not try to flatten all of that into a normal superhero show.
Tom Sturridge could have looked ridiculous standing around whispering in black clothes, but he sells Dream's strange mixture of arrogance, sadness and complete emotional constipation. He is an immortal being who understands almost everything except why people keep getting annoyed with him.
The world around him is even better. Death is warm and human in exactly the way Dream is not. The Corinthian is instantly unsettling. Lucifer feels dangerous without needing to shout. Even Matthew the raven gives the show a bit of humour when Dream is taking himself far too seriously.
The episodes that move away from the main quest are where the show really proves itself. The Sound of Her Wings is beautiful, and the story of Hob Gadling meeting Dream once every hundred years manages to make immortality feel both magical and desperately lonely. Those quieter sections are just as important as all the huge fantasy imagery.
It is dense, though. There are moments where names, realms and mythology arrive quickly enough that anybody unfamiliar with Gaiman's world could feel like they missed a meeting. But I would much rather have a fantasy show trust the audience a bit too much than explain every strange thing until none of it feels strange anymore.
Positives
Tom Sturridge is excellent, the supporting cast is stacked, the fantasy world feels genuinely unusual and the quieter standalone stories are some of the best material.
Negatives
The amount of mythology and world building can be dense, especially for viewers coming in completely cold.
Verdict
The Sandman works because it is not embarrassed by how odd the source material is. It lets the story be beautiful, creepy, philosophical and occasionally completely bizarre.
