For all that the title of pioneer brings in terms of prestige and recognition, the journey towards it is never easy as it takes a different brand of courage to blaze a trail. After all, the high risk of failure accompanying the need to work off a blank canvas is no easy starting point, even if there’s always inspiration to be found. But the venture into new waters paid off handsomely for Netflix’s animated anthology series, Love, Death + Robots, helmed by Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate), where separate narratives are connected to one or more of the titular themes across diverse genres, including comedy, horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
Five years and three seasons later (a fourth one is in the works), the animated anthology treatment now wears a new skin. Secret Level represents a shift in focus to video games, weaving together a tapestry of fresh takes on existing lore from beloved big-name franchises like Warhammer 40,000 and Dungeons & Dragons to smaller, more niche titles such as Sifu and Spelunky.
Released in two parts, the series also features the voice talents of noted Hollywood heavyweights, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Keanu Reeves, and Kevin Hart. Like with Miller’s previous outing, these ideas would be conveyed in different art styles and stylisation choices, lending a distinct identity to each episode in a way that defies conventional expectations.
“It’s difficult to do new in this town,” acknowledges executive producer Dave Wilson in a virtual interview with Geek Culture. “There’s nothing else like the series, so it was tough for us to go up to folks and say, ‘Hey, come and go on this crazy adventure with us.’”
Suffice to say, the 15-episode outing saw its fair share of major hurdles and limitations en route to completion. The show’s tight narrative structure works better with shorter runtimes, which can range from as short as five-and-a-half minutes to slightly more than 15 minutes, leaving little room for exploration beyond the central focus. Then, there’s the all-too-familiar challenge of choosing between novelty, faithfulness to the source material, or a mix of both, keeping in mind the demands and expectations of newcomers and franchise veterans alike.
Take the Pac-Man episode, for instance. Marking a bold departure from its cheerful presentation, Secret Level delivers a twisted reimagination of the arcade classic and its yellow gobbler (no spoilers here!). In contrast, the Mega-Man tribute leans toward the last approach and seeks to flesh out a long-standing, well-established world even more, becoming an evolution of the initial plan. Interestingly enough, it was originally rooted in the influence of futuristic law-enforcement icon RoboCop, with Wilson expressing his hope to revisit the idea if the chance arises.
“I think it shared some tenets with RoboCop, if you will, in a thematic sense, but it was complicated and we couldn’t quite get it to work,” he shares. “We sort of pulled back and turned it into the episode it is today, which I love maybe even more than the original, but it’s sort of this itch in the back of my head that I’d love to see realised someday.”
Striking a balance between old and new is but one party trick in the bag. The other involves nailing the storytelling and emotional aspects – regarded by Wilson as the “most important” part of the process – where repackaging emotionally resonant elements for a different setting is key.
“To me, what that means is to find some human story underneath it that is emotional and meaningful, and then it’s about skinning it in its universe in a very meaningful way. If your story isn’t saying or making you feel anything, then we’re not doing our job,” stresses the filmmaker.
While narrative weight plays an important role in eliciting feelings or sentiments, the sway of creative appeal cannot be dismissed. First impressions often matter, and Secret Level unleashes its rich artistic flair in full force, establishing itself as a celebration of the craft. The short-form anthology serves up a compendium of visual styles, but the Sifu and Spelunky episodes stand out in different ways – the former, drenched in neon hues and cel-shaded stylisation, stays true to the design identity of Sloclap’s beat-em-up, with hand-painted textures and keyframe animation completing the Spleunky look.
Unlike Sifu, it doesn’t inherit its artistic roots wholly. Instead, the show’s take on Mossmouth’s martial arts platformer pairs its original aesthetic with an external influence: Arcane, the magnum opus of Fortiche Production. The revelation hardly comes as a surprise, considering the French studio’s impressive track record that extends to scoring the first Emmy for a streaming series.
“We started the episode shortly after Arcane had come out, so it very much shared some tenets with that art style from Fortiche that we love,” Wilson divulges, prompting Miller to add, “Most of the time, the game itself establishes the art style, but sometimes, you get a feeling for what it should be, and that style fits Spelunky for sure.”
With 15 episodes in its lineup, Secret Level features a larger number of video game IPs, including an episode with several PlayStation properties, as well as an episode based on Sony’s initial but now-defunct shooter, Concord, and looks set to honour the past, present, and future of video games. The limited capacity, however, leaves plenty of stories untold, with Miller pointing out in jest that there were “about 117 games that I would have loved to see in the series”, including Joust, the 1982 arcade title credited for popularising the two-player co-op concept.
“Very serious knights, gritty, mounted on ostriches killing each other,” the 60-year-old describes with a glint in his eyes. “I think it’d be awesome.”
The first eight episodes of Secret Level are now available on Prime Video, with the remaining half releasing on 17 December.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
Kevin Low
