Linda Stasi
TV REVIEW
“Primeval: New World”
Tomorrow at 10 p.m.on Syfy
After spending 10 days on a bus with Canadians in China last month, I can see that nothing much fazes them.
I mean, unlike Americans (OK, me) who are ready to start an international incident when people cut the line, I can see how Canadians are so laid back they might not even get all crazy over, say, dinosaurs showing up on their streets and eating them with great ferocity.
Welcome to “Primeval: New World,” Syfy’s latest series (a Brit/Canadian import) which is a reboot of the original BBC series but without the er, bite, of that one. The premiere is slow to start, but does get better if you hang in there — or in the case of the T-Rex, hang on there.
Ed Araquel/Syfy
O CANADA: The good-looking crew of Cross Photonics is tasked with capturing dinosaurs terrorizing Vancouver in ‘Primeval: New World.’ Why Vancouver That’s anyone’s guess.
The silly plot involves a group of extremely good- looking 20-somethings, (a dinosaur eats the one older guy in the first episode) who are scientists, wild animal experts (they work in the “Predators” department of the Parks Service or something), inventors, physicists, security specialists and one guy from a nearly decommissioned government agency (he’s the only employee) investigating the paranormal.
The series opens with two morons parachuting off a Vancouver skyscraper. One lands successfully but the other — well, I know they’re Canadians and all — but wouldn’t you at least check to see if there’s Triceratops walking around below before you jumped I mean, logical, no
Anyway, you can figure out what happens between the rip cord and the ripped pants.
Enter Evan Cross (Niall Matter), an inventor extraordinaire, and his business partner, his fussy, CEO/best friend Ange Finch (Miranda Frigon).
Together, they own Cross Photonics, a company devoted to investigating anomalies, which are portals or holes in reality.
Evan’s concentrated specifically on the creatures that pass through these anomalies — like dinosaurs and futuristic beings the world has never seen.
Into the mix is thrown Dylan Weir (Sara Canning), a Predator Control Officer whose job it is is to control wild animals that wander from their habitat into Vancouver. OK, a coyote is one thing, a Diplodocus at the water fountain is something else.
Mac Rendel (Danny Rahim) is the cockney firearms genius/ex-deliquent who works for Evan, as does Toby Nance (Crystal Lowe), who can invent any scientific gadget anyone might ever need right in the nick of time.
And every time a new portal opens up and a new anomaly comes through, Toby is everyone’s go-to gadgeteer.
All that being said, the plot is thin and the CGI dinosaurs pretty standard — until the end of the first episode, when that Velociraptor opens its wings and tries to eat a kid. Even Canadians can’t brush that off as just another weirdo walking around Vancouver.
