I REALLY liked it.
Was it subtle? No. But then again.... that's never been what comics books have been about, has it?
Ben McKenzie's quiet charisma is enormous. The moral dilemmas, while a bit conveniently stark, are real and sophisticated. Once I find myself understanding--agreeing with--Carmine Falcome, I"m impressed.
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| Pictured: quiet charisma. |
Sure, they took too many liberties in tying together closely all manner of terribly disparate and unrelated pieces of the Gothamverse. Selina Kyle witnesses the murder of the Waynes, for which Poison Ivy's dad is framed (contrary to evidence found by forensic expert Edward Nigma) by the boss of the Penguin who is crippled for betrayal possibly in front of the Joker? Really, was Harvey Dent sick that day?
But that kind of need to "tie everything altogether" is very typical of the small screen where they don't have the luxury of 70 years of monthly issues to spin our thousands of various yarns. They need it all wrapped up in tidy tee-vee-sized ball. And, as myth-making goes, the pilot does a good job, particularly with an actual, interesting origin for the Penguin.
It will probably become too crowded too fast, and, like Smallville, will become too penned in by the 'real myth. But for now, I am definitely on board.
13 comments:
I have to admit feeling about the same way. I groaned through a lot of it and was about to pack it in when I developed a huge crush on Erin Richards.
Then I noticed McKenzie--despite looking like he was hired for his resemblance to Oldman's Gordon--can actually act. And then Falcone's "mission statement" won me over by pretty much justifying every complaint about Gotham City, something I thought was always going to require a willing suspension of disbelief, rather than an understanding nod.
I'm hoping they'll play that angle up instead of the Batman side, but somehow I doubt it. Fans will probably demand more walk-ons until Nocturna and the Penny Plunderer get their shout-outs...
(Also, it's not comic-related, as far as I know, but the "Forever" pilot reminded me a lot of DC's "reluctant hero" attempts over the years. In a good way, I mean. Plus, Judd Hirsch.)
I liked it, too, but I could have done without the Montoya-Barbara thing. And murdering someone for a sandwich was just way over the top. Another quibble: why did Gordon have to get Bruce's blessing to stay on as a cop. That seemed strange. However, I thought the show worked on the whole.
Count me in, too. Plus my wife liked it, which says a LOT. I do have my doubts about Penguin, mostly with the same issue as r duncan -- killing everybody. I've noted before that DC (in its current incarnation) has way too many mass-murdering serial killers and not enough garden-variety criminals. Let's face it, murder is NOT GOOD FOR BUSINESS. It frequently causes many more problems for the bad guys than it solves. It certainly doesn't help Penguin keep a low profile.
Which is why Falcone is such a breath of fresh air. THIS is how a crime boss should act/operate/conduct himself. Killing cops -- bad idea, draws too much attention. So he puts a stop to it.
So yeah, I liked it.
I wasn't really sure about this, but figured I'd watch it, and give it a chance. I was less than impressed with the whole Marvel: Agents of Shield show, but this...this was pretty good!
Heck, even my Sweet Babboo liked it, although I had to keep explaining who everyone was.
I demand to know why milk in Gotham is sold in containers that are 95% empty.
Heh; the mob skims off the cream first.
You win. That goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyway: you win.
(Doubtless the intention was to show that Selina feeds lots and lots of cats, but damn if it didn't look like she was on Cat #1 with a nearly-empty jug. Also, cats eat meat-oriented food, not milk, ya ninnies.)
Harvey Dent was likely at his weekly poker game with Jonathan Crane, Hugo Strange, and Victor Fries. (They gotta save something for next week...)
I thought it was basically a by-the-numbers police drama with bat-bells and whistles attached. The plot - good cop makes hard decisions - is so dead it could shamble on that other boring cliche show. So, yeah, I'll watch a few more episodes, but it better get into its own groove.
Also, SPOILER: If a cop spares a man who immediately goes out and commits murder for a sandwich, does that make the cop accountable for that murder? I kind of think it does.
"How many this time, Joker? How many have I killed...by letting you live?"
By the way, Bullock and Gordon didn't kill an innocent man. He was about to kill a police officer, one who was using non-lethal force no less. Dude was guilty, just not of the thing that brought the cops to his apartment.
I didn't think I would enjoy it but Gotham definitely has its charms.
Retweeting a tweet of Wonderella's:
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Petition to change "Gotham" to "How I Met Your Joker".
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