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Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ Cements ‘Game of Thrones’ Creators as Masters of Adapting the Unadaptable: TV Review

The Netflix adaptation of Cixin Liu's hit trilogy sees the creators of 'Game of Thrones' once again adapt the unadaptable.

Martin had written “A Song of Ice and Fire” as a partial response to the strictures of TV, crafting a story with the sprawling ensemble, major battles, sex, violence and abrupt demises he couldn’t work into scripts for the likes of NBC and CBS. The funeral of one Oxford scholar reunites five former classmates who will go on to play an outsized role in what turns out to be a slow-motion global catastrophe: physicists Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) and Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo); materials scientist Auggie Salazar (Eiza Gonzalez); wealthy entrepreneur Jack Rooney (John Bradley); and the ailing Will Downing (Alex Sharp). The moment all of Earth comes face-to-face with the extraterrestrial force behind the game, the dead scientists and Augie’s visions, it’s depicted with trippy visuals that merge “Inception” with “The War of the Worlds.” At the same time that “3 Body Problem” grounds its story in a crew of curious young people, the show also imbues a sense of geeky grandeur.

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