'Secret Level: Warhammer 40,000' Review: An incredibly action-packed cinematic

I think my favourite episode of the recent Prime Video show Secret Level is going to be the Warhammer 40,000 on. While I would argue that the Unreal Tournament episode is a strong contender, there is just something vastly unique about the Warhammer episode that I feel has it standing above all other episodes in the show. While most of them focus on this aspect of realism and feeling very much like a AAA video game cutscene, the Warhammer episode still had a bit of a cartoonish animated feel to it. But it utilised that in incredible ways to promote some really cool Warhammer aesthetics without being too overboard. It's effectively an episode to give a little more context to the character Titus, starting off with the concept of a child that never knew fear. Growing up to become a Space Marine, his character maintains that total disregard for fear as a concept, becoming a completely ruthless warrior in the process. This is a short episode with the similar sort of runtime as the rest in Secret Level, but this one feels like it sticks around a little long with some really fun pacing that pulls us in and out of action. Visually, there have been a plethora of comparisons between the episode and the Astartes series which was animated by a fan, leading to his hiring at Games Workshop. And to no surprise he's credited in this. So if you've seen that, you probably have an idea of how this episode plays out.

Fear becomes a central point within this episode with a squad of Space Marines being sent down to a planet with a coffin shaped box containing something of the unknown. It seems like a story in which a delivery is needed. One of the Space Marines being briefed on the mission is told it has a near definite level of mortality. That little hint that they'd be facing certain death was something that gave the story that extra bit of foreshadowing that really has you on the edge expecting the worst to come. And it does. From the moment they drop in they're faced with a horde of heretics, and the fight begins. It's the editing and music here that really sells the action, with a choreography that sees the squad of Space Marines in their greatest of brutality. Not a single bit of energy is wasted in their actions, with each step, each punch, and each swing landing some sort of catastrophic blow upon a heretic. It shows that level of professionalism, the years of training and the endless upgrades to their bodies. It's one heck of an action scene that you could easily just reply over and over and take in the little details. But it's again Titus that steals the show with his total disregard for danger, running head-on into a vehicle that's firing upon the squad. This is where the first bit of actual slow motion is used, and I'm glad it was here and not in the action before.

Even with all the momentum the first fight sequence had against the cultists, the Space Marines jump deep into the depths which leads to a realm to near total darkness. This leads to another cinematic fight sequence against groups of Tzaangors which leave behind an luminescent blue blood in the darkness. It's pretty much the only thing that provides some light, and it was cool to see that blood on the armour as a way to imply some shape in the darkness. It's an incredibly cinematic short in various ways to due moments like this, and that tone shifts entirely once the group reach their destination, leading to another shift in how the short plays out. Next up is the real boss of the battle, a Tzeentch that has the ability to manipulate time. The coffin box containing a sorcerer that helped the Space Marines counter its abilities. This end part of the short is incredible for its directing, where time is manipulated where projectiles suddenly stop in their tracks, and then the Space Marines themselves are frozen in time. The Tzeentch kills with its manipulation of fear, each Marine that falls revealing their true fear is in fact Titus: the one without fear.

I really loved how this scene played out, it's like the show suddenly uses stop motion in a way, as if it took the miniatures of the tabletop game and used those, using incredibly shallow depth of field as it maneuvered throughout the space and around the characters in this cosmic horror nature, entering the minds one-by-one into this realm of black liquid that rises from the ground to give objects form. While it is a story ultimately about the character of Titus, it doesn't feel like it's heavily reliant on his character in much of the short, he's mostly this side character almost that just happens to be there and showing his sheer power in moments where it counts the most. But still, that initial fight against the cultist just has so much punch to it, it shows the strengths of the Warhammer 40k universe and just how little we've really seen of it in this fashion. I do think we're starting to enter a new era of the franchise though, and I don't think it'll be long until we see more like this episode.

Around the same time this episode was released, Henry Cavill alongside Amazon and Games Workshop finally came to an agreement regarding the development of a Warhammer 40k series. I'm incredibly sceptical over how that might turn out. Amazon could completely overstep and fuck things up entirely. So could Games Workshop. But Cavill seems to be a true lifelong fan of the tabletop and that's a big positive to consider.