Invincible - Animation based on Kirkman's comic

[Paul3704]

There's LOADS of loose ends in this.

 

Jon Hamm in two scenes, the Egyptian scene at the start of one of the episodes, the Martian face hugger coming to Earth bit...

 

I quite like there's a lot of depth and shit to call back to. I'm loving this.

[PeteJ]

On 09/04/2021 at 22:54, PeteJ said:

Episode 5

 

Much better episode and it makes me want to watch the next one. This is going to be like Walking Dead isn't it, where every time you are just about to give up it produces something just about good enough to keep you watching...

Episode 6

 

And there it is, back down to poor quality again. This episode felt like 5 minutes of interesting plotline and 40 minutes of fluff. 

[MikeBeaver]

I don't know, I watched 5 on Thursday follwed by 6 on Friday, and it just seemed like a nice, extended episode, 6 is definitely better than some of the others, but I am starting to think I may just hold off until it's all out, then binge it.

Do we know how many episodes are in this run yet?

[JohnC]

Seems to be 8 episodes. 

[PeteJ]

10 minutes ago, MikeBeaver said:

I don't know, I watched 5 on Thursday follwed by 6 on Friday, and it just seemed like a nice, extended episode, 6 is definitely better than some of the others, but I am starting to think I may just hold off until it's all out, then binge it.

Do we know how many episodes are in this run yet?

8 episodes. Perhaps that's my problem, it's so slow progressing the main story beats that I just know it'll be rushed at the end. The pacing isn't great...just like The Walking Dead!

[Benny]

To be honest after showing promise after the end of the first episode it's just settled into a slightly more "edgy" superhero show with a bit of gore. It hasn't actually delivered on the ideas it set up yet. Like,

 

Spoiler

If you're going to start off your story with the idea "what if superman killed all the Justice League for some reason", then you'd figure the story would be exploring the ramifications of that event. Except it isn't really, that's just something that happens, and then the story is mostly following a different character and is mostly high school superhero stuff we've seen a million times before. It feels more like the first episode was just trying to hook you and go aha! Now I've got your attention away from all those Marvel and DC characters, here's my superhero I want you to read/watch. If you're going to go to the trouble of putting basically palette swap versions of existing superheroes in your story just to kill them off, then unless the show itself is an overall parody of the genre, what story are you actually telling when you push that into the background?

 

[MDY]

It's odd, because while the event at the end of ep1 occurs a little later on in the comic.. It then deals with the fallout from it relatively soon after..  

 

The whole adaptation is essentially a remix.. Most of the same things happen, but either in a different order or altered in some way e.g. involving different characters than in the comic.. 

[MikeBeaver]

I'm tempted to sack it off and just go read the comics tbh, I wanna know what happens :p

[Azrael]

I watched the 6 episodes last night and really enjoyed it, but can see where people could complain if were watching it weekly. 

[Orion]

11 hours ago, Azrael said:

I watched the 6 episodes last night and really enjoyed it, but can see where people could complain if were watching it weekly. 

 

Yes this would have worked far better just releasing the whole thing in one go tbh. Its not really good enough for a one episode a week schedule.

 

Episode 7 was better than normal but I still couldn't careless about Mark, his girlfriend or his friends. I like 

Spoiler

Omni Man and his relationship with his wife, surrogate Nick Fury and the clone baddies. Thats about it.

 

Robot was ok but not sure about where his arc is heading now. 30 somethings trapped in 12 year old bodies dating 

 

I'm just watching to see where it goes with Omni Man in the last episode tbh.

 

 

[Benny]

That was a decent episode but

 

Spoiler

If you're going to hang an entire season on why Superman would kill everyone in the Justice League and hold off until the last episode to finally reveal why, then I hope it's a pretty fucking special reveal. Because lightweight superhero teen drama with jarring gore filled tonal shifts isn't really enough to carry it on its own.

 

[Paul3704]

This is SO much better than winter soldier and his flying mate.

 

Reminds me of The Boys in a lot of ways. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Timbuktu]

Again it continues the trend that every other episode is good.  
 

Cecil should have recruited the cat lion man.  Surely he could have tracked him down if a local crime boss can.  Feels like the only one who can face down Omni man.

[JohnC]

Ahead of the season end tomorrow, they've announced a renewal for season 2 and 3.

[IcEBuRN]

Not seen the finale yet, but I agree with some in here. After the shock from episode 1, they haven't developed that plot point at all really have they? Just strung it out until the finale, which is a bit of a cop out. 

 

Still great though! 

[MikeBeaver]

I've enjoyed the strung out, regular story with super hero bits strewn in tbh, just watched the finale, yeah, it's what you'd expect from a season end, but I'm not sure if I would say I'm excited for more now, I'll watch it, but overall the show is not a patch on "The Boys".

[Herbalizer]

Holy shit. The finale is the best thing ive seen this year.  Cant wait for season 2.

[Benny]

Spoiler

Should have sent in space cat man.

 

To be honest the "reveal" of why Omniman was evil was pretty boring and about what you'd expect. "Space Nazis" isn't all that original.

 

I honestly think the show is only just about more than the sum of its parts. It hooks you with the first episode then just goes through the motions for the rest of the series. I was particularly annoyed at the Robot plot thread, as it spent ages going ooh look he's up to something maybe he's secretly a villain... Then it just goes oh wait no he's just trying to get with a girl and not actually evil. What a waste of time that bit was. It didn't really have any bearing on anything else in the show, and to be honest neither did any of those side characters. That entire superhero team felt like the embodiment of filler material. You could easily take all their stuff out and make episodes 20 mins long instead.

 

The gore in this final episode also threatened to be comical when it was trying to be serious. The bit where Invincible is being splattered with body parts as he smashed through the train was supposed to be horrific, but it was just absurd. It doesn't help that the show sometimes *does* use the gore for comedy purposes, so the whole thing just constantly lurches in tone and can't decide what it wants to be.

 

[GwiDan]

5 hours ago, IcEBuRN said:

Not seen the finale yet, but I agree with some in here. After the shock from episode 1, they haven't developed that plot point at all really have they? Just strung it out until the finale, which is a bit of a cop out. 

 

Still great though! 

That’s exactly what happened with the Walking Dead in the early seasons before it then went full post apocalyptic soap opera and I stopped watching it. 

[footle]

12 hours ago, IcEBuRN said:

Not seen the finale yet, but I agree with some in here. After the shock from episode 1, they haven't developed that plot point at all really have they? Just strung it out until the finale, which is a bit of a cop out. 

 

Still great though! 

You couldn’t jump straight to the finale. You’ve got to have a bit of the characters first. Similarly, you need to wonder when omniman will show himself.

[Garibaldi]

A good finale. I agree that the gore is forever in danger of becoming eye-rolling/absurd (why the hell would anyone live in a city in this universe?) but I also don’t think it’s there simply for novelty or shock value. It reminds me of Superman’s ‘world of cardboard’ speech, where he talks about the fragility of everything and everyone around him, and the frustration of having to control his every action. The level of tolerance and patience needed for a super-human to live his life on tip-toes is immense, so it’s effective to show that a lot of these heroes are pretty shit and get people killed/wreck the place. 
 

Spoiler

The irony is that, subjectively, Earth may very well be better off in Viltrumite hands, as Omni-Man says. We’re destroying our planet at an irreversible rate and can only work collectively when a threat is sudden and all-encompassing. Barring some wondrous technological advance, we’re not going to make it. 
 

Humans would never consent to being ruled by another species, but they don’t consent to having their planet used as a battleground for heroes and villains either. Viewed dispassionately, at least one option offers some assurance of control. 
 

I wondered why Mark getting powers was the catalyst for Omni-Man getting off his arse and getting on with the mission, but I think he was content to live a human life until Debbie, Mark, and any friends he may have made were dead and gone. For no-one he actually cared about to see what he’d have to become. Mark getting powers, and a huge lifespan, made that an impossibility of course. 

 

[Retroid]

@Garibaldi I think I understand why it happened that way.

 

Spoiler

Omni-man ultimately didn't want to succeed; he'd hoped his son was more powerful and that he could retain honour in death as he got destroyed and coincidentally prepared Earth for the upcoming Vultrinite war.

 

It didn't turn out that way, and he had to face those decisions he didn't want to make, ended up turning tale and removing himself from the situation.

 

 

Anyway, I enjoyed this. It's essentially R18 Justice League with teen drama intertwined and they handled both sides well. Don't think it deserves the IMDB 9.8 but it is good.

[PeteJ]

I quite enjoyed the last episode of S1, including the mad violence. It almost justified having such low quality animation as it did a pretty good job portraying the power of the two characters fighting. 

 

The reveal isn't particularly exciting but it does have potential with exploring a much wider universe, but perhaps I'm only saying that in the hope it has a reason to skip all the high school fluff and ditch half of the characters it has set up already. 

 

I'll keep going for now but S2 will need to start strong. 

[Popo]

Wow, that last 5 minutes of the first episode was doing a lot of heavy lifting. 
 

It went from ‘boring twaddle’ to ‘must-see TV’ in a single scene. 
 

Let’s see how the rest plays out. The second episode was more evenly watchable, which is a good start. 
 

Agreed @PeteJ, the animation and art style is incredibly ugly. And the dialogue! I had no idea JK Simmons could sound so bored. 

[Arn X Treme]

Just done all eight episodes over two days first seven in one and then left the last episode to watch this evening. 

 

I really fucking liked it!

 

I thought it was going to be really shite reading some comments then I remembered it is Muk.

 

I really like what they have done with this!

 

The music, that intro gimmick and the animation too (shoddy animation is the norm in Anime these days) but what struck me was how much they had lifted word for word with the comic and managed to not make it way too cheesy.

 

The voice cast were great, and I really enjoyed JK Simmons' voice again as it had been so long since the Legend Of Korra he's a great pick for Omniman. So many surprise cast members I didn't expect to hear which is always good. 

 

The whole Walking Dead reunion via the voice cast for the Guardians Of The Globe (OG) was a nice touch I thought although most aren't new to voice acting. 

 

If eight episodes translates to twelve issues (of one hundred and forty odd) then the next few seasons are going to be a whirlwind providing the buzz stays positive. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Delargey]

Wait...Jk Simmons was Tenzin, only just got that!

[Padaxes]

Ill add my voice to the really enjoyed it crowd. Yeah there is a bit too much teen drama in there and the big reveal as pointed out was a little "meh". But Im all in for series 2, thought it was great.

There is a slight issue with power levels varying to suit the story perhaps ? 

 

[IcEBuRN]

5 hours ago, Padaxes said:

Ill add my voice to the really enjoyed it crowd. Yeah there is a bit too much teen drama in there and the big reveal as pointed out was a little "meh". But Im all in for series 2, thought it was great.

There is a slight issue with power levels varying to suit the story perhaps ? 

 

Yeah. Omni's powers vary from world ending, to just very superpowered. But I've been used to "plot strength" since childhood 

[Benny]

The absolute worse example of plot strength was

 

Spoiler

Those stupid cyborgs

 

[Padaxes]

Yeah I agree 100% on that one