The Legend of Vox Machina: A Review

Unsurprisingly, I've always been a huge fan of Dungeons and Dragons. The ability to create your own world and characters and the freedom to play how you want and explore in a basically open world, to the great chagrin of my dungeon master, has always been appealing to me. I started with the McElroy brothers' The Adventure Zone podcast, played loosely during high school and college, and then dove into Critical Role. Now? We have a show.

Image Credit: The Legend of Vox Machina

For anyone who doesn't know Critical Role is a show/podcast hosted by the beloved Matthew Mercer and his cast of renowned voice actors. To name a few we have Gaara from Naruto, Ellie from The Last of Us, and Kanda from D. Gray Man. The show itself is long-running and much beloved by fans. When the Kickerstarter opened for the show, the cast was looking to make $750,000 in a 45 day span. They made $1 million in an hour and $11.3 million by the end of their 45 day mark which earned us beloved fans a 10 episode Amazon Prime special. I have to say, the Critical Role crew did not disappoint.

My personal favorite part is the theme for the arc, trauma and revenge. My bias is, of course, showing, because I've always loved Percy. But the show does a particularly good job of showing his struggle. It walks a line of showing that healing isn't linear and it's not always neat a clean. As cheesy as it is, it also does a great job of showing how friends can be a great part of the process. Percy's sister, Cassandra, is basically his character foil. While Percy shows what healing looks like with the help of friends, Cassandra shows what healing looks like alone. Neither travels a linear nor parallel path, but both reach a semi-happy conclusion.

Image Credit: The Legend of Vox Machina

My only criticism stems from the core mechanics of making a D&D campaign a show and it's hardly a criticism but more of something I'm looking forward to in later seasons. The important part of playing D&D is knowing that there really isn't a central, main character like there would be in a normal show. Everyone's playing as a main character. Show's generally like to focus on one main character and give them several supporting members that are also very important. This allows for the focus on character growth and change to be central and easy (or you would think, at least). The translation from campaign to show is a bit off. While the arc's main focus is Percy, each character is important and a main character - and there's seven of them. The Legend of Vox Machina tries to show the importance of every character in what's about six hours of show time while also conveying a strong plot. Like I said, it's not really a criticism. Really, it just means the show needs a bit more time to flush out their characters and we'll get it in the next season.

Image Credit: The Legend of Vox Machina

I, for one, was thrilled with the show and I wasn't alone. It was instantly beloved by fans and newcomers alike, if the 100% on Rotten Tomatoes didn't make that clear. It does a great job of taking from the original campaign to make something that honors the creators and their stories. Wither the original cast of voice actors staying to play as their characters, no one had any doubt that it would be amazing. It holds on to what long time fans have always loved about critical role - comedy, yes, but also a sense of what's real and genuine. Like I said, the actors are acting in real time, their reactions aren't scripted or written and it allows them to be themselves. With Amazon already picking up the show for another twelve episodes, we have a lot to look forward to and I have little doubt, with the fans being as dedicated as they are, we'll be getting even more sometime in the future.

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If you liked this article and you're interested in Dungeons and Dragons, consider checking out my Tiny Tina's Wonderlands review.