Arrow is the latest of the CW’s attempts to bring DC Comics characters to television. It tells the story of a reimagined Green Arrow who has just returned from years on remote island where he was stranded after his yacht sank. Upon returning to civilization, he decides to exact revenge on a long list of people, though the pilot doesn’t reveal exactly how those people wound up on his list. The pilot episode quickly reveals what will likely be the formula for the rest of the series’ foreseeable future. Someone from Arrow’s list will come into prominence, likely often through his lawyer ex-girlfriend, and Arrow will track him down. At some point his younger sister, already referred to as Speedy in the opening episode, will learn his secret and join him as his sidekick. Even with the assumed higher budget of the pilot, the entire affair feels flat and lifeless. The directing is dull and the dialogue clichéd. The action is not bad for television, but also nothing special.
Stay, Skip, or Give It 4: My personal feeling was that this should get a Skip, but after browsing through some other reviews, I appear to be in the minority in this view. It seems that the pilot was generally well received, so perhaps I’m being overly hard on the show, possibly I’m still bearing a grudge over how terrible Smallville became. As a result, I’m going to Give It 4, and if you’re interested in it, you probably should too.
1 comment:
I definitely understand what you mean by not feeling the pilot, although I really liked it. My coworkers at DISH had mixed feelings, though, some liking it and some not getting excited whatsoever about it. Either way, my Hopper will record every episode of the series, so that I can re-watch it or let them watch it if they give up. I can’t wait to see what happens next week, and I really think you should stick it out. I get the feeling it’ll have a little different feel than how Smallville ended up!
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