Austin Butler might’ve catapulted to fame with his committed performance in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” but the “Caught Stealing” actor has played a wide range of roles. Butler was a child actor who got his big break with guest parts in “Hannah Montana” and “iCarly,” and then went on to appear in sitcoms and teen dramas like “Zoey 101” and “Switched at Birth.” He has come a long way since, and recently played the dastardly Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two.” Before Butler received mainstream recognition for his incredible talent, though, he was Wil Ohmsford in “The Shannara Chronicles,” the TV adaptation of Terry Brooks’ novel series from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (creators of “Smallville” and Netflix’s “Wednesday”).
Brooks’ novels are campy post-apocalyptic stories with a YA (young adult) bent — the kind where high fantasy and edgy melodrama meet. The first season of “The Shannara Chronicles” loosely follows Brooks’ “The Elfstones of Shannara,” which is set in the Four Lands, where a sacred tree that once kept demons away from infiltrating the land has begun to die. Butler’s Wil, who wants to be a Healer, teams up with the elf Amberle (Poppy Drayton) and the Rover (wanderers with no set home) Eretria (Ivana Baquero). With the aid of the last druid, Allanon (Manu Bennett), this group of young heroes must prevent monsters from wreaking havoc across the Four Lands.
This is as decently generic as any high fantasy setting, filtered through what one would expect from a CW show (though “Shannara Chronicles” started out as an MTV series). So, how does the show fare, and what does Butler bring to the story?
The Shannara Chronicles’ high fantasy setting plays it very, very safe
Terry Brooks’ “Shannara” trilogy isn’t particularly complex or meaty to begin with. Despite its merits (such as its cheesy sincerity), there’s little originality to this YA high-fantasy that plays out like a shallow rehash of “The Lord of the Rings.” There’s also little to no cultural diversity across the supposedly vast Four Lands, and no attempts to take narrative risks that challenge hackneyed tropes. Everything from an inevitable love triangle to the presence of every conceivable magical creature (including changelings!) shapes this trope-heavy show, leaving little space for reinvention.
That said, “The Shannara Chronicles” can be mindless fun, if you’re into that kind of thing. Wil fulfills the mantle of the reluctant Chosen One, doing everything he can to not shoulder any responsibilities that come with grand, dangerous quests. Some of the more unserious dialogue that informs Wil’s personality feels ludicrous, but Butler’s performance helps ground such silliness In fact, everyone, especially Bennett, do the utmost with a lackluster script that races through locations and events. The humor is cheesy, but pleasant enough to not feel grating.
While Season 1 of “The Shannara Chronicles” had bankable viewership numbers, the series was relocated from MTV to Spike (now Paramount) before the second season aired. The show was canceled after that, but Season 2 is a marked improvement in every conceivable way, thanks to more streamlined worldbuilding and nuanced character arcs. If you’re curious about Butler’s early career performances or are a fan of casual fantasy settings, “The Shannara Chronicles” might prove to be a jolly good time.
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