TELEVISION REVIEW; Father From Another Planet (Really) (original) (raw)

TELEVISION REVIEW

June 8, 1998

See the article in its original context from
June 8, 1998

Section E, Page

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.

If you're going to find out that your father was a space alien, it's nice at least to learn that he was a good one.

In ''Invasion America,'' the WB network's new animated dramatic mini-series from Dreamworks, David Carter (with the voice of Mikey Kelley), a typical Glenport, Mass., high school student, makes that very discovery. When David feels ''I am different, and I don't know why,'' his mother (Kath Soucie) tells him that all teen-agers feel that way. What she hasn't mentioned, until now, is that 17 years ago in Utah she saw a spaceship land and, being a brave Linda Hamilton type (as in ''Terminator 2''), introduced herself to some nice Tyrusians and was soon hopping into her four-wheel-drive vehicle to help them outrun explosions, helicopters, fire and huge beasts called Manglers.

Next thing you know, she and Cael (Lorenzo Lamas), king of the aliens, have a baby and a house in the country. But when that child, David, is a toddler, Cael has to return to the planet Tyrus to fight the bad Tyrusians who want to invade and conquer Earth. Back in Glenport, it turns out that the local sheriff, Rafe -- yes, Rafe (Edward Albert) -- who has always been a father figure for David, is an alien, too. So are a few thousand other seemingly human people. Other famous voices in the cast include those of Leonard Nimoy, Robert Urich, Dee Wallace Stone and Kristy McNichol.

The animation in ''Invasion America'' is impressive, especially the outer-space scenes, and stylish to the point of Art Deco. But there's no heart in it; the animators' last priority seems to have been giving the characters' faces believable emotion, even during all that yelling and running. If ''Invasion America'' wins and keeps viewers, it will be because it fits a fantasy almost every adolescent has had: This can't be my real life. These can't be my real parents. I'm really a prince or princess, somehow separated from my castle and the life I deserve.

It turns out that's exactly David Carter's situation, as he learns when he puts on a glowing white glove that immediately adjusts to fit his hand and gives him telekinetic powers.

''Invasion America'' is a mini-series in the original meaning of the term. After a two-part premiere, tonight and tomorrow night at 9, it will appear on Tuesday nights for five weeks, including a 90-minute finale on July 7. Chances are, Earth will be saved.

INVASION AMERICA

The Legend

WB, tonight and tomorrow at 9.

(Channel 11 in New York)

Steven Spielberg and Harve Bennett, executive producers; developed by Harve Bennett; written by Harve Bennett and Michael Reaves; Dan Fausett, director; Dan Fausett and Michael Reaves, producers; Wayne Lemon, consulting producer; music by Carl Johnson. A production of Dreamworks L.L.C.

WITH THE VOICES OF: Leonard Nimoy, Edward Albert, Nora Dunn, Mikey Kelley, Lorenzo Lamas, Kristy McNichol, James B. Sikking, Kath Soucie, Dee Wallace Stone, Rider Strong, Robert Urich and Harve Bennett.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section

, Page

of the National edition

with the headline:

TELEVISION REVIEW; Father From Another Planet (Really). Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT