On my planet, the 'S' stands for 'Should I watch it?'

We know what you must be thinking: do we need another TV series about Superman?

'Smallville' was awesome and 'Supergirl' is just OK, so what will 'Krypton' bring to the table that fans of the superhero have not seen before?

Turns out, quite a lot.

'Krypton' is set on a premise that has never been properly explored in other Superman series (and even the films): the life on the yet-to-explode planet of Krypton, aka Supes' birth planet.

While 'Smallville' explores Superman's early years on Earth, 'Krypton' revolves around his grandfather - yes, it's Superman's grandfather story! - and how the powerful House of El came to be.


So, is 'Krypton' a good watch? We managed to get a hold of the first episode of the series, and we try our best to break it down for you.

'Krypton' premieres at 9pm on Warner TV (Astro Ch 719), with new episodes every Thursday.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Set within the DC Universe, 'Krypton' is set two generations before the destruction of Superman’s home planet of the same name. It follows the adventures of Seg-El - the grandfather of the Man of Steel.

With Krypton’s leadership in disarray and the House of El ostracised, 23-year-old Seg - a rankless outcast whose family was stripped of honours - is faced with a life and death conflict: save his home planet or let it be destroyed in order to restore the fate of his future grandson.

We already know how that went, right?

WHAT WE THINK

To make it easier for you to take the review in, we're gonna divide the review into two columns: what we like, and we don't.

What we like:

#1 Very impressive CGI
We religiously watch the other DC shows like 'The Flash' and 'Supergirl', and the CGI in those shows are a hit-and-miss, so going into 'Krypton', we did not have that high of an expectation. But by god, we were blown away by just how good it is. The CGI was spot on and the most important thing is, it looks totally believable. We won't say it's 'Game Of Thrones' level of good, but it's almost there. We will go out on a limb and say 'Krypton' boasts one of the best visuals out there.

The set design was also pretty impressive. From the 'Star Wars'-looking living quarters to the streets of Kandor and the Fortress of Solitude, it looked like no expense was spared in bringing Krypton to life.

#2 Pretty compelling storyline
Our initial thought was: 'Why should we care about Superman's grandfather?'. Would they be able to carry an entire series without Superman? Heck, is the grandfather story even remotely interesting?

But ten minutes into the show, the story sucks you in. You'll slowly get hooked to the storyline and its characters - yes, even Superman's grandfather. The pace picks up when it needs to, so you won't feel that the episode is draggy. Before you know it, you're at the end of the episode wondering what will happen in the next.


#3 Interesting characters
When we first heard that the show will follow the adventures of Superman's granddad, we thought the lead actor will be a grey-haired, bearded, pot-bellied old man. We can confirm that it's not. Cameron Cuffe brings a tough, don't-mess-with-me swagger to the role of Seg-El. He is charming (or should we say, interesting?) enough to make you not want to turn off your TV.

The other characters in the series are pretty interesting as well: Georgina Campbell plays Lyta-Zod, a warrior in the Kryptonian military and Seg-El's forbidden lover. Unlike other female leads in other TV shows, she's not the 'damsel in distress' kind, and that's what we really like. Lyta has her own subplot too: she has to live up to her mom Jayna's high expectations while keeping her love story with Seg-El a secret. Juicy!

Oh, our favourite has to be Nyssa-Vex (played by Wallis Day) - a junior magistrate - because eye candy, hello!

What we don't like:

#1 There's no Superman
We'll just get this out of the way: Superman is not in this series. We don't know if he'll ever be in the series, but for the time being, we don't foresee the directors writing him into an episode. So, what you actually get is a TV series about normal people (Kryptonians don't have super powers in Krypton, in case you're wondering) doing normal people stuff - but with Superman branding.

If there's any consolation, there are mentions of Superman, his 'S' insignia and his cape in the first episode. The question is: how long can a Superman-based series go without Superman, especially when they are selling the series as a prequel to the Superman universe?

#2 The series could get very old, very quickly
Don't get us wrong, the first episode was actually really engaging, but somehow, we have this nagging feeling that the momentum will soon die down. Setting a Superman story 200 years before the birth of the Man of Steel would mean that we won't see classic Superman villains such as Darkseid, Bizarro, General Zod and Lex Luthor (although there are rumours going around that Doomsday will make an appearance).

If you remove all these iconic characters from the equation, you'll probably only get scenes of House El, House Zod and House Vex fighting each other for glory. Doesn't that remind you of another high-budgeted TV series?

VERDICT

So, is 'Krypton' a good watch? We would give it a yes. Although the Man of Steel himself won't be in the series, it has enough material and plot (and subplots) to stand on its own. If you're tired of the human drama and sometimes absurd plot from other DCEU series such as 'Supergirl' and 'The Flash', 'Krypton' will take really good care of you.

A bit of advice: don't go in thinking 'Krypton' is a superhero series and you'll do just fine.

Final score: ★★★★☆