All Rise...

Judge David Johnson accidentally opened a portal to the Mesozoic Era when he overcooked his lo mein.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of Primeval (published June 12th, 2007), Primeval: Volume Two (published October 8th, 2009), Primeval (Blu-Ray) (published September 14th, 2007), and Primeval: Volume One (published December 1st, 2008) are also available.

The Charge

Dino-rama!

Opening Statement

One of BBC's biggest hits returns for another dose of dinosaur punching.

Facts of the Case

This is my first experience with Primeval, so allow me some catch-up: Breaches in the space-time continuum called "anomalies" have been opening portals that often lead to prehistoric eras. Through these balls of CGI, terrifying dinosaurs and monsters often traipse, forcing a group of containment professionals to restrain the beasts and control the gatweways.

When we last left these lizard-antagonists, two of their team members found themselves trapped in time during their attempt to save the world from a woman trying to retroactively halt the process of human evolution. Meanwhile, back in the present, a whole new threat emerges, and once again the consequences are civilization-ending…

The Evidence

Fun show. I recall seeing the Primeval ads regularly on BBC America and found myself resisting its allure pretty vigorously. I'd say to myself, "Wow that looks cheesy…" and move on.

It is a risky proposition, building a TV series around the successful generation of dinosaur visual effects, but thanks to both the surprising adeptness of the animators and a tone that balances B-movie plotting with an atmosphere of playing it straight, the show succeeds.

The latter element is what particularly stands out. How easy it would have been to just go full-on goofy, considering the hook of the show? Wisely, the writers opted to stay away from the tongue-in-cheek stuff and play it straight. Granted, there are moments that could have benefitted from some comic relief, but overall it was the right call. The result is a sci-fi action show that doesn't insult your intelligence and the season-long storyline tosses in plenty of entertaining twists.

Primeval's biggest surprise is the quality of its CGI. While it won't be passed off as the fraternal twin of Avatar anytime soon, the visual fx work could have been a lot worse. Actually, that's not fair. Considering the challenge of rendering new and sexy prehistoric monstrosities for every show and utilizing a doubtlessly limited budget, the tech wizards deserve more credit than "it's not terrible." I'd place the quality of the CGI as a few notches below a feature film and worlds better than anything coming out of the Syfy movie factory. I can basically buy these creatures are running amok, so the suspension of disbelief stands.

Two things that irk me…

1) These dinosaur incursions are apparently supposed to be kept under wraps and one of the agents goes so far to commandeer some kid's cell phone, but really we're supposed to believe that no one sees a gigantic T-Rex running through the streets of Slough?!

2) Everyone freaks out when a dino bites it and there's such a focus on non-lethal methods of incapacitating them, but if I were a taxpayer I would make damn sure my government is murdering animals that can devour me alive.

BBC Video's Blu-ray set is okay, starting with the 1.78:1/1080i high-definition transfer. Despite the lack of "p" after the "1080," this is a fine-looking presentation and delivers the action and effects with punch and clarity. Audio is more basic, a 2.0 Dolby Stereo mix that can get noisy, but I'm not ready to let this missed surround sound opportunity slide. Extras: a two-part making-of featurette (in HD) and the complete set of prequel webisodes.

Closing Statement

Fast-moving and sporadically ferocious, Primeval serves up an enjoyable sci-fi action romp.

The Verdict

Not Guilty. T-Rex still has funny arms.

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