PREACHER (8 out 10) Written by ; Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg; Developed by Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and Sam Catlin, based on the comic books by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon; Starring Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, Joe Gilgun, W. Earl Brown, Ian Colletti, Lucy Griffiths, Elizabeth Perkins, Jamie Anne Allman, and Derek Wilson; Hour-long drama running weekly on AMC Sundays starting May 22, 2016. Rated TV-MA for violence, gore, language, and adult content.
Rest easy, Preacher fans. This show should not disappoint anyone but the most demanding and persnickety fan of the source material, the revoltingly sacrilicious comic about West Texas preacher imbued with the Word of God—a power that allows him to command someone to do something and they must literally do it. In this he’s aided by foul-mouthed drunk Irish vampire Cassidy and ex-girlfriend/contract killer Tulip.
However, don’t expect a literal adaptation of the first story arc (appropriately titled “Gone to Texas” — at least appropriate for the over 1,000 fans packed into the Paramount Theater in Downtown Austin for the premiere as part of SXSW). Instead, this is the back-story that readers didn’t get in the comics for many issues.
As series executive producer Seth Rogan explained in a post-premiere Q&A, the comic starts at 200 mph and goes to 300 mph before you ever get a chance to figure out these characters. As a tv show, they wanted to start at the beginning and allow things to develop.
And there are some changes from the comics. However, few of them so far seem to do with content. The character Arseface, prominent in Jesse’s backstory, is featured prominently in the pilot episode. And yes, it’s a prosthetic. No, it doesn’t look exactly like the comics. But it looks awful enough, and also funny enough for those with a sick enough sense of humor to like that sort of thing.
While the story and a few elements may have changes (as did Walking Dead, remember), what Rogan and Co really nailed here are the characters. The actors are all perfectly cast an immediately inhabit these people.
Cooper does the most work as Custer. Rogan and Cooper joked that to nail the West Texas accent and the attitude they just told him to watch lots of Friday Night Lights and channel Coach Taylor. Clear Eyes, Voice of God, Can’t Lose?
Tulip and Cassidy try to steal the show, though. Both of them get extended action sequences to introduce them, and they are bloody, brutal, and funny as hell.
The real question people want to know is, did this get “gutted”? Does it pull its punches because it’s on cable? No.
In just the pilot, we see Cassidy’s face covered in blood. We see a compound fracture. We see people explode. We see guts and intestines splayed everywhere. You could compare this to a show like Marvel’s Daredevil, which plays on Netflix and has no censor. This makes that look like a church.
The only limitations they seem to be facing are budgetary. When Tulip faces off against an attach helicopter and trained mercenaries, all the action–like Greek tragedies of old–happens off screen. Because crashing a helicopter and killing a bunch of guys would cost lots more money than they have, not because that content was somehow too out there for the channel. And how it’s played for laughs helps make it work even more. You’ll understand when you see it, but it’s one of the most satisfying parts of the episode.
Surely, the internet is going to find things to hate in this. But for all but the most demanding of fans, “Preacher” delivers on that Hail Mary. How a show like this got made is nothing short of a miracle. It helps that shows with troubling content like “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead” have become AMC’s bread and butter. This is a new addition to that pantheon of hard-edged, fan-pleasing prestige shows.
One final note from the audience Q&A. Seth Rogan was asked about not only how this got made, but what advice he has for young filmmakers looking to break in. First, he said, don’t do what he did. But, the key is to find your own voice and make your own films. You can do more with an iPhone and YouTube than he ever could as a teenager who wanted to make movies. Follow your dreams, and maybe one day you too will be able to adapt that comic book that everyone said was impossible to make.