From Steven Spielberg and the writer of Saving Private Ryan, Robert Rodat, comes Falling Skies, a drama set in a post-apocalyptic world following an alien invasion. A small band of survivors are regrouping and preparing for retaliation. Each day is a test of human endurance and will to survive. Noah Wyle (ER) takes up the cause as Tom Mason, a man who lost his wife in the invasion and is placed second-in-command of the civilian troop. A history professor before the attack, his sound knowledge of TNT would normally worry his faculty colleagues. But nothing is normal anymore. Hope stems from his knowledge of old battles where the underdog prevailed and his natural fatherly instincts kick in to protect his two sons and rescue a third who has been captured by the aliens. The comparisons with The Walking Dead are inevitable. Here we are dealing with Spielberg’s preferred monster and his influence is felt in the saccharine script, but this is more War of the Worlds than E.T. The action is bloody at times but punctuated with enough sentimental moments to soften even the hardest of sci-fi gore enthusiasts.Verdict – summer blockbuster viewing.
