Imagine a world where Google is obsolete, an iPhone is just a pretty brick that can level your table and $80 million is completely useless. In the new series “Revolution,” which premiered last night, that is exactly what the world’s population has to deal with.
From Executive Producer J.J. Abrams (Lost, Fringe) and director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) this episode is what can be expected, a suspenseful drama. For fans of Abrams, or television in general, this show is filled with an all-star supporting cast, including “Lost” aluma Elizabeth Mitchell.
The show’s major arcs deal with a bleak future and a strong female lead that has to fight an evil group to protect her family and potentially has the power bring on a revolution. It’s obvious that “Revolution” is trying to cash in on the latest phenomenon that are dystopias mixed with Science Fiction.
“Revolution” starts off in modern day Chicago, with a normal family sitting in their living room waiting for the father of the family, Ben, to come home. When he arrives he does something cryptic on his USB port, warns a few key people and then anything mechanical on earth stops working.
Flash forward fifteen years to a dystopian world where gunslingers are the law and the people live in fear of the “Militia.” It’s essentially a futuristic western, but unlike other sci-fi westerns like “Firefly,” it lacks charm.
The Militia’s head henchman, Captain Tom Neville, (Giancarlo Esposito), enters the community looking for its leader Ben, and his mysterious USB. He secretly hands his device to his friend and confidant Aaron, (Zak Orth). Then the drama ensues that requires Bens daughter, Charlie, to embark on a journey looking for her uncle Miles (Billy Burke) and answers to some important questions involving the conundrum that is the power loss.
Overall “Revolution” has an interesting premise, but fails to deliver. Keeping in sync with previous J.J. Abrams productions, this show has many eye catching scenes, like crashing planes, and a dilapidated Chicago but the whole worldwide disaster plot seems overdone at this point.
The writers of “Revolution” should have learned from the past mistakes made by shows like “Flashforward” and “The Event” who tried using the J.J. Abrams formula but were ultimately cancelled.
The premiere episode’s big budget and hollywood director make for an asthetically pleasing show but the plot needs some work and the production value may be difficulty to keep it up in future episodes.
“Revolution” airs Monday nights at 10 p.m.
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