TV review: Invasion
INVASION (M18)
This is the second big back-to-back sci-fi drama on Apple TV+.
And aside from rhyming with Foundation which premiered last month, Invasion asks a similar question: Do you have time for this?
It is set in the present day and, spoilers for the slow, centres on an alien invasion (apologies to Demi Lovato).
This is a globe-spanning series with story threads in the US, Japan, the Middle East and UK.
For those who remember the genre shows of the 2000s, this is very Heroes in concept - disparate individuals with some special powers teased and bound to have some connection - except that had a stellar first season.
At the time of review, Invasion is three episodes (or three hours) in and we're still waiting for some direction or purpose.
Right now, we're watching five piecemeal dramas.
Roxette was far from my favourite band but it had a great message: Don't bore us, get to the chorus.
Too many streaming series are playing the long game at the viewer's expense. I'm sure they have arcs planned up to the umpteenth season, and streaming services are more forgiving than networks, but will anyone stick around?
And it's not that Invasion is short of talent.
Sam Neill is in the first episode and draws you in as a sheriff playing cliche bingo by insisting on getting into a dodgy investigation on his last day before retirement.
But then Neill is in only that one episode. Story done, apparently.
Elsewhere, Shioli Kutsuna puts in a really touching performance as a heartbroken scientist trying to solve her astronaut lover's death.
Golshifteh Farahani is stellar as a woman who not only has to contend with the chaos caused by the first wave of the invasion, but also that her once-perfect husband is an adulterer and a full-on abandon-the-family-before-their-eyes coward.
Oh yes, and her son may have special powers.
Also with nascent powers is bullied UK schoolboy Casper (Billy Barratt). A great young actor, as is Paddy (brother of Tom) Holland who plays Casper's nemesis Monty.
In fact, Spider-Man's kid brother is so utterly evil here, he's a bigger villain than the aliens.
Which isn't hard because despite some casualties, we've yet to really see who is invading.
At the cautious-to-glacial pace Invasion is going, you wouldn't want to hold your breath for any reveals just yet. - JONATHAN ROBERTS
Score : 2.5/5
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