Review: FALLING SKIES

Last Updated on Friday, 10 June 2011 22:33 Friday, 10 June 2011 22:26

Premiering June 19th at 9pm on TNT, Falling Skies is a new science fiction series produced by the legendary Steven Spielberg dealing with an alien invasion. Although the preview itself was an event well-hosted by the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, complete with free swag and food, seeing two episodes rather than one in a single sitting came off as a torture more than a treat.

I would go on with my usual rant about cinematic elements here, the value of subtle acting, etc. but quite frankly there is nothing to be said. Yes, the way camp is set up and roles such as the medical team make sense given the respective context, and were two or three moments that got me to chuckle but those were far and between the cliché which surrounded the rest of the show. If it's here, you've seen it before. Down to over-the-top dramatic effects and humans arguing over guns that need to be there the moment aliens enter the equation. More after the break....

Spielberg? Some of your work is genius, I have no doubts there. But leave the little green men for now as E.T. seems to have been your peak and I have not seen anything original from you in this realm for years to come. You're not the only one to blame here as creator Robert Rodat's idea hardly seems original to begin with, as I'm certain there are plenty of better shows out there with aliens and some of them boast a far more original concept than “let's kill them before they kill us”.

The verdict? Save yourself the brain cells and go pop in Mars Attacks from a previous generation into your DVD player. At least that film is meant to be bad in the “so bad it's good” way. Falling Skies doesn't even come close. I doubt it will come back for a second season and if it does, I dare say the Wonder Woman show the internet loved to hate might have fared better.

Rating: C-*

Not given a D for the simple reason that the free popcorn kept my mouth chewing rather than whining, and that it was not a reality flick featuring somebody whose last name is Kardashian.