Critic Reviews

3 Body Problem soars in every aspect. Visually? It's beautiful. Story-wise? Completely gripping? Cast-wise? Pitch perfect. Pacing? Flawless. It's an absolute masterclass from Benioff, Weiss and Woo in the type of sci-fi we need right now – bold, unflinching, creative, imaginative and completely unique.

We’ve seen intelligent approaches to first contact (Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival” and Robert Zemeckis’ “Contact” come to mind), but wrapped in this thriller genre, with these mysteries, these characters and this interesting structure, “3 Body” feels unique.

“3 Body Problem” belongs to an all too rare breed: mainstream entertainment that leads its viewers down bracingly original speculative corridors. .... Intellectual stimulants are balanced with the old-fashioned kind—namely, dramatic set pieces and alarmingly inventive forms of body horror. .... But the series also has genuine heart.

With 3 Body Problem, showrunners Benioff, Weiss, and Alexander Woo have crafted a piece of speculative fiction that moves through Earth-shattering revelations at a rapid clip, full of evocative and sometimes horrifying imagery that’s difficult to look away from.

After a few episodes, you get so swept up in this world, in this story, that it exists all on its own, without the burden of past associations. It doesn’t matter what came before; you just want to know what’s coming next.

3 Body Problem actually benefits from being binge-watched. There is so much going on that a week-to-week release is likely to leave viewers scratching their heads if they aren't fully giving the show their complete attention. The multiple storylines that intersect with each other at different points in time also make the series incredibly rewatchable.

A hugely ambitious adaptation of a hugely ambitious book. As an opening season it feels like set-up for something bigger — but what’s here is thoroughly impressive, giant-scale television.

Some sequences work better than others – like the video game side story delivering a soupçon of cringe – but many of the performances and one shocking sequence make for a more-than-worthy adaption of the beloved franchise.

What works best about “3 Body Problem” is that you don’t really have to consider all of these deeper themes to enjoy it. It works on a superficial sci-fi level too with crazy character twists and solid performances throughout. Adepo, Sharp, Wong and Cunningham are particularly strong, and the craft is undeniable.

One suspects that Liu’s world is so abstract that even the best adaptation possible will be difficult for some viewers to fully wrap their heads around, a hurdle that will only grow higher as the series continues. Nevertheless, “3 Body Problem” feels impressively close to that ideal — and not all of its accomplishments are due to structural choices or feats of filmmaking.