THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO Is an Essential Action-Adventure for the Entire Family

Unlike our good friend Billy, I never watched the original 1966 Thunderbirds Are Go when I was a kid. I did look up the opening credits, and it looks kind of bonkers. I bet the stories were really great, but the puppets of the era didn’t really stand the test of time, I’m sorry to say. This new, updated series is a mix of CG animation and and live-action model sets. Weta built the "bigatures" for the series, and they look great. It looks different than anything else I’ve seen, but I got used to it quickly. And the wonderful voice cast and storytelling makes it easy to get immersed in.

The show follows the adventures of the five Tracy brothers and their allies Brains, Kayo, and Lady Penelope. From their crazy awesome secret island headquarters, the brothers launch (literally) into action as International Rescue, working to save people from danger everywhere from under the ocean to the reaches of outer space. Each brother has his own fantastic rescue vehicle — Thunderbirds 1-5, with Kayo piloting Thunderbird Shadow — and his own fantastic suiting up montage. When danger calls, they literally run to a special, hidden spot on the wall, strap in and are barreling down a track to their vehicle while being robotically suited up. It’s pretty cool. Also pretty cool is the way the swimming pool retracts when they launch the rocket plane. The tech is all provided by Brains, the Q of the group, who clearly loves his job. Lady Penelope, voiced by Rosamund Pike, is their London-based field agent, an aristocrat who does their sleuthing.

The structure of the show is this: some disaster strikes, and the Tracy brothers and their friends work together in some combination to save the underwater lab/space station/city of Taipei. But, smartly, the show also has another layer, an overarching plot/mystery that connects everything. First of all, the father of the dashing Tracys, astronaut Jeff Tracy, is missing, presumed dead. In the first episode, aquanaut Gordon Tracy discovers a beacon that matches the one on the ship Jeff was piloting when he crashed, although it was never recovered. This beacon is linked directly to The Hood, an international crime lord who is intent on taking down the Tracys and International Rescue. Also, someone on the team is hiding a secret connection to The Hood. This whole arc adds an extra does of intrigue to what would otherwise be a totally charming rescue show.

Thunderbirds Are Go is aimed at kids aged 6-11, but as an adult, I can say it is totally enjoyable in a way that a lot of kids shows aren’t. Also, my son just turned four, and this is absolutely his new favorite show, which is saying something, because he is extraordinarily picky. He hates most shows and movies, and he throws tantrums when we make him watch something new. But he is watching my Thunderbirds Are Go screeners on a loop. As a parent, I also appreciate that it is about rescue missions, because it is exciting and intense without exacerbating my son’s natural tendencies toward violence, meaning that when he decides that he is a Thunderbird, he jumps around the furniture a lot but doesn't karate chop me at all.

Thunderbirds Are Go is worth checking out if you are anyone, and if you have kids it is a must-watch. It is the perfect show to watch together as a family. The first two episodes are available to watch now on Amazon Prime, and the rest of the season drops next Friday, April 22. Of course, if you live in the UK, the whole series aired months ago, so you must have watched it by now, right? I’ve seen the first 13 episodes, and I can’t wait to see the rest.

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