React wasn't exactly innovative as such so much as it was a very carefully designed (I don't mean they didn't make mistakes, mind, only that they clearly put effort into making new and exciting mistakes) implementation of the model that successfully broke into the mainstream.

The phrase "an idea whose time had come" springs to mind.

(this comment is intended to read as professional respect, not fanboying - the extent to which I succeeded in that intension must inevitably be left as an exercise for the reader)