Saturday 30 March 2013

MSN TV: Sky1's REVOLUTION

Saturday 30 March 2013

Today over at MSN TV: I've reviewed the double-bill premiere of Sky1's new US sci-fi import REVOLUTION, which concerns a near-future society living without electricity. (Long-time readers of DMD perhaps don't need to click through, as this is an amalgamation of reviews written during its US airings.)
Whenever a TV show (invariably American) arrives with an attention-grabbing high concept, there's a feeling it won't be able to ration its story over the desired five years or more. Revolution, airing on NBC in the US and Sky1 here in the UK, follows in the footsteps of 'big idea' shows like FlashForward and The Event. Its premise easily sustains a cinematic-like TV pilot (here directed by Iron Man's Jon Favreau), but it leaves you uncertain as to whether there's enough material for multiple seasons on telly. Revolution's pilot hit the ground running, as Ben Matheson (Tim Guinee) and his wife Rachel (Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell) comfort their young daughter as the world's power turns off. City lights wink out, radio and television stop broadcasting, batteries become useless (huh?), planes fall from the sky, and vehicles coast to a standstill.

Continue reading at MSN TV...