IN REVIEW: AMAZING STORIES (S1 – EP3) – Dynoman and the Volt

Synopsis: An awkward young boy and his grandfather are transformed by the arrival of a mysterious ring ordered from a comic book 60 years ago.

The Story

When his grandfather moves in with the family. An awkward young boy who loves superheroes and dreams of writing his own comics has a life-transforming experience when he finds a ring that should have been delivered to his grandfather 60 years ago. The grandfather who is at retirement age and has hurt his knee is reluctant to try the ring on, but when he does he finds that it gives him superpowers. This allows him to overtime repair his relationship with his son and bond with his grandson over a mutual love of superheroes.

The Acting

Robert Forster who sadly passed away before this episode aired does a fantastic job of portraying the Grandfather, who starts out being a miserable cantankerous old git and gradually transforms due to the influence of the ring. I loved the scenes that Foster has with Tyler Crumley who plays young Dylan who is getting teased at school because he likes to dress up for Halloween as Batman. The scenes where the grandfather shares his old comic books of Dynoman and the Volt with Dylan are really touching and heartwarming.

Overall

This has to be the most fun episode of the new Amazing Stories that have been released to date. The actors play their parts well and seeing a grandparent develop superpowers was a novel twist. It’s episodes like this that focused on the relationships between characters and had a sense of family and community that made the original series really special and I’m really pleased that the reboot of following that lead instead of going for darker and edgier stories to compete with shows like Black Mirror.

I also loved the fact that the narrative in this story focused on an item that would have been a give away in a comic, which a kid would have sent for. Overall lots of fun and admittedly rather cheesy, but in a good way.