"Derivative Spy Thriller Fails to Roar"
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What You Need To Know:
SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS is an excellent spy show trapped inside a pitiful, derivative SEAL TEAM rip-off. The first two episodes get too caught up in the star power of Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman, to give Laysla De Oliveira the screen time her heroic, inspiring character deserves. The program’s commitment to portraying the U.S. Armed Forces in a positive light is commendable. However, the first two episodes of SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS have strong obscenities, dysfunctional families, intense war and torture violence, and gratuitous lewd content. MOVIEGUIDE® finds the program unsuitable to continue coverage any further.
Content:
More Detail:
SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS follows the activities of the Lioness Engagement Team, a group of CIA operatives tasked with compromising terrorist leaders by befriending and manipulating their wives, girlfriends and daughters. Zoe Saldaña plays the team’s leader, who recruits a young Marine (Laysla De Oliveira) to go undercover after their previous asset was killed in action.
Lioness is an excellent spy show trapped inside a pitiful, derivative SEAL TEAM rip-off. De Oliveira’s Marine-turned-CIA-operative is an authentically female, uniquely inspiring heroine who rises above domestic abuse to serve her country and protect the weak. Sadly, the first two episodes get too caught up in the star power of Zoe Saldaña and her superior, played by Nicole Kidman, to give de Oliveira the screen time her character deserves. LIONESS could have been a bold new entry into a stale TV genre, but instead, it succumbs to the all-too-common affliction of allowing A-listers in what should have been minor roles to weigh down the primary storylines that ought to belong to other, more intriguing characters.
While the show’s commitment to portraying the U.S. Armed Forces in a positive light is noteworthy, its stances on other moral issues are severely lacking. Zoe Saldaña and Dave Annable portray the parents of a dysfunctional family, beleaguered by the consequences of an
open marriage and Saldaña’s prioritization of her profession over her family. Many gratuitous obscenities, heavy war and torture violence, and some lewd content make SPECIAL OPS: LIONESS excessive and unsuitable for viewing. MOVIEGUIDE® finds the program unsuitable to continue our coverage of it any further.