Thomas Magnum, a decorated former Navy SEAL, returns home from Afghanistan and applies his military skills to become a private investigator in Hawaii taking jobs no one else will—with the help of fellow vets T.C. Calvin and Rick Wright, and former MI:6 agent, Juliet Higgins.
Thomas Magnum, a decorated former Navy SEAL, returns home from Afghanistan and applies his military skills to become a private investigator in Hawaii taking jobs no one else will—with the help of fellow vets T.C. Calvin and Rick Wright, and former MI:6 agent, Juliet Higgins.
The film's core premise as a private investigator series, combined with Justin Lin's action-oriented directorial style, suggests a focus on individual justice and solving specific crimes rather than promoting a distinct political ideology, leading to a neutral rating.
The movie demonstrates significant DEI through the explicit recasting of the traditionally white lead character, Thomas Magnum, with a Latino actor, and the gender-swapping of the Higgins role. While the casting is intentionally diverse, the narrative itself does not center on explicit critiques of traditional identities.
The series includes a recurring supporting character, Beth Katsumoto, in a normalized and positively depicted same-sex relationship. This portrayal is integrated without fanfare or judgment, affirming LGBTQ+ identity through its casual acceptance and dignity, contributing to a net positive impact.
The show features Juliet Higgins, a former MI6 agent, who frequently engages in and wins close-quarters physical fights against male opponents using her extensive martial arts training.
The character of Jonathan Higgins, originally a male character in the 1980s series, is reimagined as Juliet Higgins, a female character, in the 2018 reboot. This constitutes a clear gender swap.
The character of Thomas Magnum, originally portrayed by a white actor and widely established as white in the prior series, is portrayed by Jay Hernandez, an actor of Mexican-American descent, in the 2018 reboot. This change in the lead character's racial portrayal constitutes a race swap.
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources