Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, review: Sam Fisher lands on Netflix

The return of Sam Fisher and a Ubisoft icon

Do you remember Sam Fisher? The NSA secret agent born from the creative mind of Tom Clancy was for a long time the protagonist of one of Ubisoft's flagship brands, Splinter Cell, before generational decline condemned him to an unexpected exile that has lasted for a decade. While Ubisoft has tried multiple times to reinvigorate the series, without ever finding the right formula to translate into a new, up-to-date game, Sam has also had little luck in other media. Even in a historical period when many video game franchises were planting their flag in Hollywood (The Witcher, Cyberpunk, the list is now endless), Splinter Cell saw several projects stall, including one that seemed to involve a big name like Tom Hardy. Finally, Netflix came to redeem good old Sam Fisher from oblivion, offering to produce an animated series that arrived on our screens these days, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch. 

From Metal Gear Solid to Tom Clancy: the origins of Splinter Cell

It's no secret that Splinter Cell and its protagonist were born as a kind of response to Konami's Metal Gear Solid developed by the over-the-top talent of Hideo Kojima. Where MGS is exaggerated, comic-book-like, an anti-war soap opera permeated by a delightful camp spirit, Splinter Cell is instead realistic, rigorous, up-to-date, immersed in the most speculative geopolitics and above all certified by the signature of Tom Clancy, someone who knows a lot about spy stories and military technology. Sam Fisher is an agent firmly rooted in the present, who takes himself very seriously and is caught in the middle of international intrigues that, if not realistic, are based on contemporary tensions to those of the real world: pillars that the Netflix series has wisely preserved to build its Splinter Cell: Deathmatch upon. 

The plot of Splinter Cell: Deathwatch: a more human Sam Fisher

The Sam Fisher we meet in Deathwatch is considerably older than the one gamers were used to controlling: a not-so-subtle reference to his long absence from the scene? Who knows. The fact is that our Sam is now a dormant agent, retired to a civilian and rather isolated life in a remote area of Eastern Europe, relying only on the company of a placid dog. Fisher's bucolic retirement is abruptly interrupted when Kirby, an agent severely wounded after a mission gone wrong that cost her partner's life, shows up at his door. Although almost dead, Kirby has with her a piece of code that could reveal traces of an imminent terrorist attack, but which at the same time puts her and Fisher in the crosshairs of all involved factions. 

Atmosphere and style of Splinter Cell: Deathwatch: realism before action

The atmospheres are those of the video game, more icy and cold compared to the exaggeration of other products (like the aforementioned MGS for example) and are reflected in a direction and cinematography that enjoy slow rhythms, small gestures, moments of reflection before the action explodes. The pursuit of realism is a cornerstone of the saga that the Netflix series effectively and happily embraces, making Splinter Cell: Deathwatch a product enjoyable by everyone, even those who have never heard of Sam Fisher: the series' structure draws heavily from the most classic situations of the spy thriller and anyone comfortable with the genre will not struggle too much to recognize its grammar and stylistic elements, even without knowing anything about the past life of the elderly, bearded agent around whom everything seems to revolve. 

A solid adaptation, but with some limitations

This approach, decidedly understandable in the context of adapting a franchise that has been mothballed for the last 10 years and never managed to carve out a space for itself outside the video game sector, is perfectly understandable, but it also carries some risks. The first, and most concrete, is that of appearing somewhat like a generic product. And indeed, in total honesty, one could replace Fisher with any of the many secret agents that populate the genre and the series would function equally well. But, again, it's a limitation linked to the franchise that the series carries with it, without however pushing too hard to create an identity: even the three green lights of the optical visor are used sparingly. Despite these legitimate criticisms, however, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch throws the viewer into the midst of an international intrigue, with an intriguing European flavor, which slowly unfolds, finally pulling the threads of all the scattered clues: eight episodes of about twenty minutes each, well-constructed on the thread of continuous tension, with moments of calm that are a tense prelude to the arrival of action.

Animation and direction in Splinter Cell: Deathwatch: the touch of Derek Kolstad

And it is precisely the action, from an animation perspective, that marks the highest point of the series: it's no coincidence that the showrunner is Derek Kolstad, whose resume includes John Wick and Nobody. The chosen style is very different from current trends, far from the flourishes of Spiderverse or KPop Demon: Splinter Cell: Deathwatch wisely finds its own dimension in a much more European style, somewhat similar to the rotoscope used for A Scanner Darkly: few, very elegant lines, filled with solid colors, animating movements as fluid and natural as possible. Something is lost in terms of facial expressions, but nothing that prevents enjoying a solid, well-written, well-animated series, which captures the spirit of the franchise and tries to propose itself as something new, without following the most popular trend of the moment. It's a shame it received little promotion, once again leaving Sam Fisher in that shadow from which he has been awaiting his moment for too long.