Back then when I was a kid, I browsed through the Nickelodeon channel or what was known in Canada as YTV and encountered a strange and surreal show. Think of Tom and Jerry, but dark and twisted. You get this. Invader Zim. This show was about an Irken alien named Zim, trying everything in his power to please his leaders, The Tallests named Red and Purple.
Meanwhile, Dib, the only smart human on Earth basically, tries everything to expose Zim and stop him with mixed results. It's dark, twisted and also hilarious as Zim's schemes get ridiculous and just demonstrate that he's a terrible invader.
The show was made by Jhonen Vasquez and it's some of the most creative and interesting pieces of media I've stumbled across. So, let's get started.
STORY
Our story begins when Zim is given a mission by the Tallests to invade a planet, that planet is Earth. However, this is all a ruse so they can get rid of his smug ass. You see, there was an invasion of a mighty scale called Operation Impeding Doom led by two previous Tallests. Zim had one job, to keep watch and make sure the Tallests make out alive.
Just by scratching his ass, he somehow presses the fire button and not only destroyed the planet they conquered, but also killed the previous leaders of their civilization. Which leads us to present day. Zim wasn't even an invader at all, he was a food drone, whose purpose is to give their leaders food and many others if they're hungry.
But Zim couldn't even perform one simple task right due to his incompetence and ego. Zim has a strange quirk where he always refers to himself in the third person and that he hates liars. So, he get's sent to Earth and the Irkens rejoice as the screw up is gone and hope that he dies. However, to their displeasure, Zim is still alive and kicking and seems to slowly adjust to the way of life on Earth.
Hell, even his disguise is crap. It's just an Elvis wig with contacts for his eyes. But then again, the show portrays the human race as either weird, gross and downright moronic. For Christ sakes, they literally have a place called Skool! SKOOL. What?! And here we have our other main character that starts off this weird relationship named Dib Membrane.
Dib is actually a clone of the original Membrane so he can have a successor to carry on his work. But he spends most of his time in the basement of his laboratory concocting weird experiments. He also has a sister named Gaz who pretty doesn't give a flying fuck about anything and just plays games 24/7.
We also have this weird kid who's basically a stalker to Zim and it's, uh... creepy. We're also introduced with other Irkens who pretty much flat out tell Zim his mission and existence is a lie and that he's used by Red and Purple as some sort of jester for their amusement. But of course, Zim either doesn't believe or is in denial.
The show went on for around two seasons and just kinda ended abruptly. Why? I don't know! Even the creator himself has no idea. I guess Nickelodeon just lost interest? But there was supposed to be one more episode and then a movie to come out. The episode started normally, Zim tries to concoct a stupid plan and contacts his Tallets.
Oh yes, I forgot to explain, they elected leaders based on a Irken's height, and most of them are short, basically midgets. But don't let their appearance fool you, there's a reason their called invaders. Anyways, he contacts Red and Purple and this time, they had enough. They inform Zim that everything was a lie and they secretly banished him and waited for him to either leave them alone or die.
Neither happened and at first, decided to play around and boost Zim's ego to the point where he gets killed eventually due to his stupidity. But Zim managed to surprisingly elude the authorities and outsmart Dib. Zim for once is heartbroken and realized everyone was telling the truth, his own race hated and didn't want him.
They leave one final message and cut off completely. If he ever contacts the Tallests again or comes back to Irken, they will kill him. End of story. And from there, Zim fucking snaps. He wasted his entire life, all this time, all this false loyalty for a bunch of lazy assholes. And with this idiotic race to boot.
He goes on a rampage and just destroys everything in the town much to Dib's horror. The game was over and there would be one winner. ... Or at least, that's what would have happened, if it hadn't been cancelled. Oh well. However... there is talks of a revival and an upcoming movie. So, there's that at least.
And that was Invader Zim, he also appeared in other media such as videogames. Including crossovers with the other Nicktoons.
ANIMATION
The animation is sleek and smooth. Almost a dark cartoonish look. All of the backgrounds are exaggerated and weird which fits the sitting here, especially on Earth where some places look rundown or not cared for. It's fitting considering how the show portrays humanity as a moronic race, which, uh... could translate today actually. Hm.
VOICES
The voice cast is great and they're clearly having fun with these roles. Especially Zim. He starts out sounding sinister and conniving, but have random fits of evil laughter and always shouting. He's basically like a kid trying to play a villain, but being so over the top ridiculous that you can't take seriously. You can't help but shake your head and go: "Yes, that's nice Zim. Anyways, homework?"
Dib is pretty much the punching bag as everyone around him either doesn't give a shit or is just an idiot. He knows right off the bat that Zim is an alien and tries everything to expose him and stop whatever it is he's doing. But along the way, they made a little game to pass the time and keep interesting. It's kinda weird. Their relationship is kinda bizarre. But, whatever.
The rest of the characters are just as weird, again, fitting for the theme. All with exaggerated proportions and weird designs.
MUSIC
The music is creepy, dark and has some sci-fi moments as well. It works.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND SCORE
Invader Zim is a bizarre and dark show. And I love it. Yeah, it can get repetitive with the formula, but look at how long Tom and Jerry has been going on for.
I'm not sure what's going to happen in this series, but the movie looks promising. Should be releasing somewhere in summer of this year. But I don't have my hopes up.
My final score of this show is...
9/10
Sure, the show has problems here and there, but for the most part, it's not noticeable and it's a pretty good show. They just went insane making this and I love it! Just thought I should get this out there. And for some people wondering why I sometimes look at crap? There's just some... joy in tearing apart some mediocre and terrible media and just make fun of it.
Like, yeah sure, I was angry and pointing out problems. But by the end of the day, I couldn't help but laugh my ass off over the ridiculousness. But yeah, that's all for now.
Yep, 'tis a classic. If in the distant future they were to remake it, they'd have to be very, very faithful to the source material. Hell, if the cards were played right, it could probably be even better! But, for now, all we have is imagination... and of course, fanfics.
Yep, 'tis a classic. If in the distant future they were to remake it, they'd have to be *very*, *ve
