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Review: The Flash: “City of Heroes”
I first saw the pilot episode of The Flash over the summer, when it was leaked early on the Internet. At the time, I thought the episode was incredibly hokey. It was stuffed with forced exposition and more ‘running’ and ‘fast’ comments than my simple mind could handle. I was prepared to continue to dislike the show when the episode finally aired on TV this week…but I’m kind of happy to say that something definitely improved on a rewatch! I don’t know if anything was changed, or if perhaps I had inflated the level of hokiness in my mind, but the first episode of the new live action Flash show is actually a solid start. I’m definitely more excited for the series after watching it on TV.
This first episode of The Flash isn’t perfect, and it’s still kind of hokey. But now that it’s finally here, for real, I’m ready to become a fan.
TV Rating: 7/10 – Good.
When I first saw this episode, I couldn’t stop rolling my eyes. From the very first scene, they start hitting you over the head with their lack of subtlety. A young Barry Allen is telling his mother how he wants to be a hero, because he tried to intervene and stop some bullies, only to get beaten up himself. His mother replies that sometimes it’s “better to have a good heart than fast legs”. Come on! That’s Gotham levels of obvious. And it doesn’t stop there. Barry Allen has a reputation of being late at his job for no good reason, and everybody is commenting on things being ‘fast’ or that Barry should ‘run’. It’s stifling.
But when I rewatched the pilot, I didn’t notice it as much. I don’t know if it’s due to editing or what, but the show is smoother this time around. Maybe watching Gotham has blown my subtlety circuits. But I still don’t think Barry needs to have a reputation of being late to things just to reinforce his super speed. That’s just dumb.
Fortunately, the pilot as a whole isn’t as dumb as I’d feared. Hokey sensibilities out of the way, the episode actually works quite well, with a solid cast and spectacular special effects. They set up all of the major characters and plots, though that isn’t without a few stumbling blocks too. In the span of a single episode, Barry gets his powers, learns about his powers, becomes the Flash and defeats his first super-villain. It’s a bit rushed. And using shortcut exposition doesn’t help matters. Every time Barry encounters a new character, whether it’s his painfully obvious love interest Iris West or his painfully obvious rival Eddie Thawne, someone somewhere delivers a few paragraphs of exposition. It’s wince-inducing.
But weaknesses aside, this is a strong start to the new show. I’m glad I rewatched the first episode because it definitely got better the second time around. I’m really excited to see The Flash take off running.
Join me after the jump for the full review.
Arrow Keeps Piling Them On
At least two more comic book heroes will be joining the TV show Arrow next season: the Atom and Katana! I’m excited to see Arrow continue to give us quality DC cameos, though neither one of them is on my list of hopefuls. The Atom is a pretty big deal, being a solid member of the Justice League. In fact, beyond the Flash and Black Canary, this is our fourth Justice Leaguer in this TV universe. And Katana has a special connection to the Green Arrow in Jeff Lemire’s current comic storyline, The Others. Both represent different weapon clans, the Sword and Arrow clans, respectively. Maybe that will come up, though I kind of doubt it.
The Atom will be played by Brandon Routh.
Routh, of course, both started and stopped his career playing Superman in Superman Returns. Poor guy. He was darn good in the third season of Chuck, and in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. According to the news, Ray Palmer will be the new owner of Queen Consolidated, so he’s gonna be a businessman with a focus on the applied sciences division. Will he be shrinking? Who knows!
Maybe DC is trying to get their shrinking superhero onto screens before Ant-Man next July. You know what…that’s probably exactly it!
Katana will be played by Devon Aoki.
Aoki starred in Sin City as a badass sword-wielding warrior woman, a role she’ll hopefully fill in Arrow too! Apparently she’s going to be a contact of Oliver’s in the Hong Kong flashbacks, though like with Deathstroke, she’ll hopefully show up in the present day too.
I’m perfectly happy with these castings. Arrow is one of my favorite shows right now, and I look forward to more comic book characters popping up! Everyone except Nightwing, though.
Epic, Full-Length Flash Trailer Reveals Everything!
Holy Guacamole, you guys! No sooner did The CW release that brief Flash teaser yesterday than they’ve come out with a full, 5-minute long trailer that reveals freaking everything for the new The Flash show! We’ve got Barry Allen, his supporting cast, his origin, the origin of his costume, the Weather Wizard, the death of his mom, the origin of metahumans, Vibe, it’s…it’s glorious!
Behold!
I love it. The show looks a little weird, a little kitschy, but I kind of like that too! I like the lead actor, I like the costume, I looooove the special effects! And I especially love the Green Arrow cameo. The show might have some growing pains, I think at the beginning. But it otherwise looks gorgeous.
First Teaser for Flash TV Show is Aptly Over Quickly
Did you guys and gals see Arrow‘s season finale? It was a badass adventure, to be sure. It also gave us our first look at the new Flash show in motion!
I don’t know about you, but I got a real sense of a growing Justice League from watching that clip. There’s just something really stirring about seeing live action superheroes hang out together. I grow more excited for the Flash show with every new bit I see.
Wait, What? Hourman!?
Following the success of Arrow, and the potential upcoming success of a Flash TV show, DC and The CW are apparently now planning a show starring Hourman. For reals. Hourman!
This guy!
For those who don’t know, Hourman is a rather obscure hero who fights as a member of the Justice Society of America. There have been several different Hourmen over the years – because good brand names never die – with most of them ingesting a magic pill called Miraclo that grants them super strength and super speed for an hour. I apologize to all Hourman fans out there because that sounds absolutely ridiculous.
Which is probably why The CW is going with an entirely different version of the character, at least according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Based on a short-lived volume of Hourman comics, the TV show is going to focus on a hero who can see one hour into the future. He will use that power to avert horrible upcoming disasters in order to win back his wife and child. So it basically sounds like a reduced version of Early Edition. Anybody remember that show? I never watched it, so why is it ingrained in my memory?
I’m starting to think somebody at The CW, desperate to follow-up the success of Arrow, just went down a list of DC superheroes and kept throwing out pitches until somebody shrugged and said, “Alright, let’s do that one.”
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