Fifteen years ago, the lights went out. Not just the lights, but every power source on Earth including electricity, generators, even household batteries, and not just in the USA but all over the globe.
“Revolution,” NBC’s answer to the predicted 12/21/2012, end-of-life-as-we-know-it disaster, begins with one man, Ben (Tim Guinee), rushing back to his suburban Chicago home to warn his wife, Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell), and kids of the coming disaster. Ben’s face alone causes Rachel to say, “It’s happening, isn’t it?”
“It” is the worldwide power failure that hits about 14 seconds later, and we watch as the world goes dark, continent by continent.
And only Ben seems to know why. In fact, he has a handy amulet, which may or may not hold all the secrets and/or hold the key to restoring the power.
But, hey — it’s J.J. Abrams of “Lost” so it’s all very mysterious — and probably will remain so for, well, until the smoke monster comes and kills everyone.
Anyway, after the massive power failure, we cut to 15 years into the future, which looks like 300 years in the past. The village where Ben lives with his family, including teenaged daughter Charlie (Tracy Spirdakos) and son Danny (Graham Rogers) and girlfriend Dr. Maggie (Anna Lise Phillips) — the wife has “died,” or so we’re told — is like a frontier town, except everyone is living in houses that still exist. It was a blackout not an apocalypse, so everything is still intact, although everything’s falling apart because there are no power tools or electricity to maintain anything — except the fantastically chic outfits that select survivors get to wear.
Anyway, into the peaceful village rides a band of equally chic horsemen in fabulous leather and suede duster coats. The leader, Captain Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito), representing the Monroe Republic, tells them that Ben must come with them. Dopey son Danny shoots first and listens never.
This can’t end well and doesn’t. Dad is dead, sister Charlie (the family hunter), Maggie the doctor and Aaron (Zak Orth), a former Google millionaire, must go in search not just of Danny, but Ben’s long lost brother, Myles (Billy Burke), who was last seen in Chicago. Unbeknownst to all, before he died, Ben handed the amulet to Aaron, and told Charlie to find Myles. There are many questions that remain: What does it all mean? Who is Monroe? Has no one seen “The Hunger Games”? Or “Lost” or even “Planet of the Apes”?
Apparently not since all of these movies are smushed into one “Revolution,” and no one has figured it out.
If you loved Spielberg’s “Terra Nova,” you’ll love “Revolution.” In place of the nifty dinosaurs, there are nifty old rusting cities à la “Planet of the Apes,” incredibly skilled teen hunters à la “The Hunger Games,” and mysterious mystical plots that should make you feel appropriately “Lost.”
At the end of time, it’s good to know that it’s not only survival of the fittest, but the best-looking.