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Revolution...review.
Well, I've now watched the first four or five episodes of Revolution. Missed this week's episode due to Hurricane Sandy. (Is it just me or has this become a rather stressful fall?)
Not a great series. Or even a very good one for that matter.
It's clearly patterned after Lost in its narrative structure, but without either the whimsy or creativity of Once Upon a Time. The acting is marginally the same on both, although Once clearly has more money and better special effects. I prefer Once, it doesn't make my brain hurt filling in plot gaps and making sense of the illogical premise and story. Revolution just requires a bit too much suspension of disbelief. Example - Maggie looks pretty damn good for a pretty woman who walked the entire US, by herself, after a massive blackout and during a WAR. How she managed not to get injured or figure out how to defend herself during that period is beyond me. Well, not until it services the story.
Revolution also reminds me of Supernatural in a lot of ways. Although Supernatural is better written and acted and a bit more compelling. Both have similar thematic problems (which I won't bore either of us with since they tend to lead to self-righteous ranting. It's TV. What's the point?). Problems I was able to dismiss in Supernatural and am struggling with here. It also reminds me a lot of Firefly - but Firefly's premise worked better, and Firefly was admittedly better written and acted. Shame. I have a feeling Revolution will last longer than Firefly did.
I also preferred Lost structurally and thematically. And acting wise. Here, people seem to be a bit bored. The best performance to date has come from Captain Neveille - who is played by the same guy who played the Gus in Breaking Bad. An excellent character actor, who imbues his villians with just the right level of humanity and pathos. Elizabeth Mitchell also does an excellent job of portraying a conflicted character.
Of our little troop of ding-batty adventures, led by the wholesome but ultimately dull, Kate? I can't remember her name. Miles is by far the most interesting - in that I'm beginning to suspect he created the militia with the best of intentions. I rather liked his line that he has to now walk to Philadephia to kill his best bud. The Militia is housed in Philly...get it? Revolution? Started in Philadelphia? They are currently in Indiana. Considering how fast they got to Chicago and then Indianapolis and with little mishap, this shouldn't take too long. I really wish I had tv writers who could transport me to and from locations...life would be so much easier. For a TV show that is about a world with no real transportation or power - they don't appear to have that many problems. Walking Dead this isn't. (I made the mistake of watching Revolution, The Walking Dead and Copper back to back...you do not want to do that. Made Revolution looking even more unrealistic than before. Copper takes place towards the end of the Civil War.)
I found the last episode I watched, with the big Neville/Miles showdown to be rather frustrating. They kept teasing me. Also, stop putting the lead heroine in the damsel position, I know you aren't going to kill her off. (No instead they killed off Doctor Maggie, who was unfortunately the most interesting character in their cast. I'm not suprised, Norah replaced her - and Elizabeth Mitchell's captive Mom.)
Right now, I'm only watching the thing to find out why Miles left and why he made Mitchell turn herself in to him. What was she working on with her husband. And why did they turn everything off.
But I'm only mildly curious about this. It's not grabbing me. And I don't really care what happens to anyone. The lead female character - Katie? The daughter/sister? Grates on my nerves. I don't know why. I should like her. But I find her to be whiny, a bit dumb, and far too naive for the world she's living in. She should be a bit more hardened or tougher. Too "wet-behind-the-ears" to be realistic. We need more Katniss and less Luke Skywalker. The other characters barely register.
I actually found the villain, Neville, whose back-story we finally got, to be the most interesting.
This is not good.
I may try two more episodes...but I think I may give up on it soon. No time. And too many tv shows.
Not a great series. Or even a very good one for that matter.
It's clearly patterned after Lost in its narrative structure, but without either the whimsy or creativity of Once Upon a Time. The acting is marginally the same on both, although Once clearly has more money and better special effects. I prefer Once, it doesn't make my brain hurt filling in plot gaps and making sense of the illogical premise and story. Revolution just requires a bit too much suspension of disbelief. Example - Maggie looks pretty damn good for a pretty woman who walked the entire US, by herself, after a massive blackout and during a WAR. How she managed not to get injured or figure out how to defend herself during that period is beyond me. Well, not until it services the story.
Revolution also reminds me of Supernatural in a lot of ways. Although Supernatural is better written and acted and a bit more compelling. Both have similar thematic problems (which I won't bore either of us with since they tend to lead to self-righteous ranting. It's TV. What's the point?). Problems I was able to dismiss in Supernatural and am struggling with here. It also reminds me a lot of Firefly - but Firefly's premise worked better, and Firefly was admittedly better written and acted. Shame. I have a feeling Revolution will last longer than Firefly did.
I also preferred Lost structurally and thematically. And acting wise. Here, people seem to be a bit bored. The best performance to date has come from Captain Neveille - who is played by the same guy who played the Gus in Breaking Bad. An excellent character actor, who imbues his villians with just the right level of humanity and pathos. Elizabeth Mitchell also does an excellent job of portraying a conflicted character.
Of our little troop of ding-batty adventures, led by the wholesome but ultimately dull, Kate? I can't remember her name. Miles is by far the most interesting - in that I'm beginning to suspect he created the militia with the best of intentions. I rather liked his line that he has to now walk to Philadephia to kill his best bud. The Militia is housed in Philly...get it? Revolution? Started in Philadelphia? They are currently in Indiana. Considering how fast they got to Chicago and then Indianapolis and with little mishap, this shouldn't take too long. I really wish I had tv writers who could transport me to and from locations...life would be so much easier. For a TV show that is about a world with no real transportation or power - they don't appear to have that many problems. Walking Dead this isn't. (I made the mistake of watching Revolution, The Walking Dead and Copper back to back...you do not want to do that. Made Revolution looking even more unrealistic than before. Copper takes place towards the end of the Civil War.)
I found the last episode I watched, with the big Neville/Miles showdown to be rather frustrating. They kept teasing me. Also, stop putting the lead heroine in the damsel position, I know you aren't going to kill her off. (No instead they killed off Doctor Maggie, who was unfortunately the most interesting character in their cast. I'm not suprised, Norah replaced her - and Elizabeth Mitchell's captive Mom.)
Right now, I'm only watching the thing to find out why Miles left and why he made Mitchell turn herself in to him. What was she working on with her husband. And why did they turn everything off.
But I'm only mildly curious about this. It's not grabbing me. And I don't really care what happens to anyone. The lead female character - Katie? The daughter/sister? Grates on my nerves. I don't know why. I should like her. But I find her to be whiny, a bit dumb, and far too naive for the world she's living in. She should be a bit more hardened or tougher. Too "wet-behind-the-ears" to be realistic. We need more Katniss and less Luke Skywalker. The other characters barely register.
I actually found the villain, Neville, whose back-story we finally got, to be the most interesting.
This is not good.
I may try two more episodes...but I think I may give up on it soon. No time. And too many tv shows.