Secret Invasion

...there IS a "but" (more on that later)

• This review is based off the first 5 episodes.

First the criticism.

In a universe so full of extraordinary superheroes and alien technology, it makes absolutely no sense that "good old Fury" is running around on his own, with a normal run of the mill pistol, to try to "save" earth from being taken over by aliens.

It's just unbelievable dumb in its premise, and despite excellent production quality (as is the norm for the MCU) the show is on track to get a 3.

BUT (and here is the kicker)... then enters Olivia Colman.

Her character lifts the entire show by 3 points, all by herself.

That understated, witty, stiff upper lip character just makes it all worth while.

More or less every time she is on screen you chuckle, if not laugh out loud.

Imagine taking her from "The Crown", with a few (obvious) changes, and then making her a much funnier stone cold killer, with absolutely no boundaries.

I'd happily watch an entire show based off just her character.

It takes the show from a waste of time, in an already overcrowded universe, to being something you find yourself grudgingly continuing to watch, despite all the illogical poorly thought out BS going on around her, just to watch what she does next.

I dearly hope they expand her character and give it a bigger part as the show develops, and I hope they are not dumb enough to kill her off, as that would instantly make me lose interest in this otherwise senseless drivel.

Let me start with what this series isn't. It isn't exciting, original or in the least bit interesting. The path it treads is well worn and has been done better so many times before. The majority of the characters are immediately forgotten due to their sheer blandness and similarity to one another. I don't think it understands what it's trying to be. Is it a superhero series or or a tepid spy thriller? It presents as yet another hodgepodge of cliches and tropes, packaged under the Disney/Marvel banner. The character of Nick Fury and his tired quips is now at the point of being a parody of who he used to be.

What an absolute waste. Samuel L Jackson seriously must have had a clause written into his contract that states he must be seated 75% of the time on set. Watch these episodes again and notice every excuse in the world for him to be sitting in a chair. They even made a Louie 14th chair joke in the first episode to cover for him having to sit down while they filmed an action sequence around him. He is old the character is old and it just doesn't work. Add the fact that the writing is incredibly shallow and predictable and it makes you wonder why anybody is praising this garbage.

It's great to be a fan but to put blinders on and to blindly support things hurts actual fans. They will just keep delivering nonsense if you keep eating it up we'll get more trash. Stop ruining it for everyone.

I don't understand the low ratings. But then again maybe I do. Some Marvel fans have gotten used to a certain kind of formula, but to be honest I am ready for some maturing and alternative perspectives on a Marvel UNIVERSE. This is a timely work, where people are at war, each with their own reason. But mostly to fight for a placed called home. No one group's hands are clean. This series, more than any in the MCU, felt the most human...where we see a man broken by fighting and trying his best to take responsibility for the collateral damage done. And as a side note, Ben Mendelsohn's acting is a revelation, as an alien who seems to have the best of humanity.

Take a good premise, an absolutely stellar cast, a reportedly generous budget and somehow get.....this???

This badly made, cheap-looking, muddled, dull, bland excuse for an espionage/action thriller?

The occasional scene where individual performances occasionally manage to elevate the awful material aside, this was an absolute train wreck.

Confusing narrative, badly shot, character motivations all over the place, what should have been major.plot revelations (and character deaths) were tossed away without any sense of import or gravitas.

God knows where the reported $200m budget went, this had the production values of a daytime soap apart from the obligatory CGI finale (which sets up more narrative problems for the future in itself)

Looks like it was reshot extensively, someone needs to carry the can for this bin fire.