What have I been doing this week? I’m glad you asked! Here’s what’s been on my watchlist this week:
*Note: My reviews usually contain spoilers. You have been warned. Proceed at your own risk.*
TV
Invincible (2021)
When my friend mentioned Invincible to me, I was instantly sold. J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh and Steven Yeun as the voices of one of the most powerful families on TV sounded like a great premise. Add to that the coming-of-age story of a young man who has to grapple with being the the son of the most famous superhero on the planet when he himself has only just gotten his own abilities and has little control over them. I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it.
I love the way that the show sets up the mystery elements of the show. The first episode start out so slow that it’s almost boring, with two security guards at the White House having a run of the mill conversation. What follows is anything but boring, as we are suddenly introduced to a team of superheroes, Guardians of the Globe, that parodies the likes of the Justice League. We learn their names, their powers, their relationships and team dynamic, only to have one of the most jarring fight scenes where Simmons’ Omni-Man kills the entire team.
This is merely the catalyst for the series of events that follow, and as Mark Grayson learns to become better at being the superhero he wants, his father’s motives become more and more questionable. The momentum that the show builds over the course of the season is so incredible, and I was hooked till the last minute.
What I enjoyed most was the moral questions that the show brings up. We’ve all seen superheroes before, but a lot of them recently have been about the big set pieces and witty one-liners. What Invincible does is allow us to see the toll it takes on the people behind the mask when they lose a fight, have their trust broken or make bad choices. I was just as heart-broken as Mark when he finds out what his father really is, because the build up to it felt earned, and I’d had time to put my trust in these characters.
The style of the show also contributes greatly to this overall mood. Mark is still so naive in the ways of the world, and the first few episode have such a vibrant palette that contribute to that world view. That contrasts so well with the scenes with his father in the final episode, where everything is so much more dull and muted.
Animation also helps greatly with this, because it allows for these massive set pieces without having massive budgets to go along with them. We get to see so much more of that throughout the show instead of the production saving it for their climax episode like a live-action show might.
The train scene in the last episode in particular felt like something that wouldn’t be possible live-action because a production team would much rather focus on bigger action sequences in a final episode. However, I loved that they kept the scale of it so small and focused on Mark in that scene, because you get to feel the horror that he feels at causing so much destruction by just being who he is. That one scene felt more real to me than entire seasons of other shows do.
That’s what Invincible comes down to, though. It’s violent, it’s gory and it’s unabashed. But it also has a lot of heart, you feel for the people in it. These character invest time and effort into becoming who they are, and you root for them through their stumbles and their successes. I hope the show keeps up the momentum they set up in this first season because I can’t with to see what’s in store for Mark going forward.
Colourful Granny 