Magnum P.I. (2018)

Hernandez is fine as Magnum: He pulls off the character’s essential charm as a man of action who’d prefer to come across as a good-natured beach bum. Assiduous fans of the original will note other careful details carried over here. ... The new Magnum P.I. is perfectly fine, but in an era when so much television is first-rate, is “perfectly fine” enough to keep a show on the air?

Neo-Magnum overdoes on goofy pyrotechnics, but a cheerfully bland Hernandez can't match Tom Selleck's charms. [28 Sep 2018, p.48]

In the new reboot (with Jay Hernandez in the title role, and without that starchy appositive comma in the title), Magnum is a generic, chill dude with an aggro streak. ... The series is ungainly in its rush to get Magnum and Higgins together as a fondly squabbling couple, and it’s uncertain whether the stars share the chemistry to sell a Benedick-and-Beatrice routine, but they sail through the fight scenes just fine.

The plot is serviceable, which is all it needs to be, but there are car chases and helicopter stunts and banter all the while. That is exactly the sort of thing many people will require of a Monday night.

The premiere hour includes heavy lay-of-the-land narration by Magnum, perhaps in part because the character dialogue can be pretty clunky at times. ... The Hawaiian scenery remains gorgeous and crossover episodes with the Hawaii Five-0 guys are inevitable. This time around, the new Magnum also will have romantic possibilities with Higgins, who’s already sending some signals.

Magnum P.I. is sleek, loud and possessed of less personality than the expensive vehicles it shoots up and drives off cliffs.

The pilot for the new Magnum, full of explosions, car chases and frivolous relationships, is kitsch designed for mass appeal. It shares nothing with its predecessor because it has no heart. This show is “Magnum P.I.” in name only, which is a shame.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]