When Australian paleontologist Helena Walker (Madeleine Madden) awakens on an island next to a living, breathing dodo and a man who claims he just stormed Normandy, it raises a lot of questions. One answer Ark: The Animated Series makes plain from the jump: Wherever they are, these three characters have found themselves mingling with prehistoric beasts and humans from eras as far off as ancient Rome and the 24th century. What purpose the island – the so-called “ark” of the title – serves, and why these people are there, we don't know, but the long-delayed adaptation of 2017’s Ark: Survival Evolved that follows is essentially 2010's Predators meets Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. The first six episodes dropped unceremoniously on Paramount+ last week, which is a pity because they rule, adding Ark to the recent wave of great animated video game adaptations that includes Castlevania, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Dragon Age: Absolution, and Arcane
Much like Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal, Ark gets a lot of mileage out of the thrill and glee of warriors from throughout human history battling with or against dinosaurs. Sure, a 3rd century Chinese rebel leader facing off against a gladiator is cool, but you know what’s cooler? A 3rd century Chinese rebel leader facing off against a gladiator while they’re both riding T. rexes. The show uses its creatures to their maximum potential, putting the Compsognathus-sized vision of the Jurassic World trilogy to shame. Dinos are set loose in arenas to fight and kill prisoners; Brachiosauruses carry entire armies; velociraptors and stegosauruses are used as mounts.
The concept opens itself to enough cool moments to sustain a six-episode arc dealing with Helena and her newfound compatriots’ opposition to Roman despot Gaius Marcellus Nerva (Gerard Butler). But the story itself isn’t transcendent, mostly focusing on Helena's disdain for violence and her struggle to cope with the horrors and brutality she sees in the ark – as if there were no one else in there who came from a peaceful or civilized place. There’s also a bit of formula to the first season: Each episode is centered around a new companion Helena meets, telling their backstories through flashbacks – though this does help us care about the characters.
More than its premise, Ark's biggest asset is an impressive cast headlined by the likes of Butler, Michelle Yeoh, Russell Crowe, and Vin Diesel. But as cool as it is to hear these actors in this outrageous setting, it does end up being a bit distracting. David Tennant and Jeffrey Wright disappear into their characters; Yeoh and Butler never sound like anyone other than the A-listers who helped Ark make such a splash when it was announced way back in 2020. The show ends up lost somewhere between an Illumination movie full of annoyingly recognizable voices and a smaller production populated by character actors. If this were a story about notable historical figures from across time like Record of Ragnarok, then it would make more sense to hire big names to play them. But when seemingly random regular people stranded on the ark speak in such unmistakable tones, it breaks immersion.
Ark is a mighty impressive production. It may not have the budget or pre-production time of Arcane, but it still clearly has a distinct style – particularly in its designs, using the creature looks from Ark II (meaning feathered and vibrantly colored dinos!). Director Jay Oliva, who helmed a number of DC animated movies, and his independent animation studio Lex and Otis (Netflix's fantastic Trese) make this an animated series that looks as good as any blockbuster production, with fluid action choreography that displays many different fighting styles from across time and across the globe.
It helps that Gareth Coker (who scored the games) is back to compose the music for the animated series, providing an operatic sound that captures not only the emotion and intensity of the individual stories, but also the fantastical atmosphere of the ark and all the people attempting to survive there. It is both familiar and alien, and at all times enthralling. The involvement of Ark: Survival Evolved creators Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak helps the translation from game to TV show, with the duo clearly knowing the world inside and out, and capable of knowing what to bring to a new format and what to leave behind. Even if they’re not reinventing the wheel with Ark: The Animated Series, they’ve found a way to tell new and fun stories with the concepts and characters of the games.
