Samuel L. Jackson in Moscow. Marvel's Secret Invasion is more like a spy thriller than a superhero

On June 21, Secret Invasion premiered on Disney+. The project's showrunner is Kyle Bradstreet, screenwriter of Mr. Robot. All episodes were directed by Ali Selim (Criminal Minds, Calling). Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Emilia Clarke, Kingsley Ben-Adir.

alien The Skrull race is trying to provoke a military conflict between the US and Russia in order to take over the Earth. Nick Fury and Talos team up to thwart their plans.

Freshish plot

Conceptually, "Secret Invasion" is reminiscent of "Loki" - the writers take a minor character of the MCU and reveal it anew. They coped with the main task, but the general background is disappointing. The very first episode hints that you should not expect an unusual plot.

Given the quantity superheroesthat comes out in recent years is not a surprise. Again a global threat, again references to past projects, again secret organizations. Of course, a lot can change in the next five episodes, but the first episode pretty clearly delineates the main conflict of the series.

The amazing Samuel L. Jackson

It is unlikely that Nick Fury is one of the best roles of Samuel L. Jackson. The series tries to fix this by adding new colors and shades to the character.

Now it's not just a guardian of the Earth, collecting all kinds of heroes. It's more like an aging detective in film noir. He loses his grip and control over the situation, constantly replays the events of the past in his head and realizes that his time is gone.

Not to say that the character becomes too complex, but, fortunately, Jackson plays him. He adds to the hero not only tragedy, but also self-irony. In the end, it doesn't matter how boring Fury is, simply because the hero Samuel L. Jackson the default can't be boring.

Jackson is a real gift to the writers of the series, and they use it to the maximum. They force you to speak Russian, throw you into strange locations, give you the opportunity to play with your voice (it's hard to understand how you can love Jackson in voice acting).

And in one of the scenes, there is a reference to the legendary episode from Pulp Fiction at all - except that there is not enough Travolta and citing scripture.

Stylish visuals

Stylistically, Secret Invasion is more like a spy thriller than a superhero movie. There is a gray florist, and dark alleys, and a hand-held camera with a constant feeling of surveillance - in general, a standard set. "Secret Invasion" pleases with resourceful camera work with panoramas and interesting angles. The visuals dictate a paranoid atmosphere, the dialogues do not spoil it.

Sometimes it seems that Secret Invasion is a Spy Who Came in from the Cold, paired with the Avengers. Surprisingly, it works.

However, some things look strange. For example, "Moscow" was filmed in London and Liverpool, which are neither Soviet nor modern Moscow. As a result, only the Cyrillic alphabet on the signs informs that the actions are taking place in Russia. AND earflaps - they are not in every frame, but they still occur.

But car numbers are misleading: for some reason, the authors of the series believe that there are letters in the middle, so you can find the number 8A2. Despite the mistakes, Moscow still looks good - the shortcomings are too minor.

Non-independent project

Some Marvel projects can be safely watched in isolation from the general context of the universe. Such, for example, the film "Deadpool" or the TV series "Daredevil».

"Secret Invasion" is the case when you need to know the backstory well. The writers are not going to chew on the details for newcomers. Moreover, they constantly refer to characters and events from past films.

Secret Invasion is a cute series that Marvel fans will love. But the casual viewer can enjoy the visuals and performance of Samuel L. Jackson, but get confused by the characters and backstory. In general, not She-Hulk, and thanks for that.