Once sentence review:
I expected a watered down Smallvillesq version of not yet Batman, instead what I got was a pretty decent cop show.
For More detail:
I’m pretty happy to be proven wrong. When I heard that they were making a Batman prequel I was nonplussed. Batman is awesome, but we just finished a awesome Batman trilogy. The Man of Steel Sequel is going to feature a new version of Batman, and Arrow is covering the urban vigilante weekly drama pretty well. As much as I love super heroes, the big production houses could oversaturate the market if they keep retreading the same ground.
But Gotham isn’t a superhero show. It’s a cop show. Even though we have a million of those, its a genre that isn’t going out of style anytime soon. Told from the point of view of a young Jim Gordon, the pilot tells the story of the only straight cop in a crooked town. With everyone compromised, corrupted, or a criminal, Gotham promises to be a gritty cop show. Theres enough style to give it a comic book edge without being a live action cartoon.
Though I miss the trademark mustache Ben McKenzie makes an awesome Gordon. I enjoy his rapport with Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock. The ultimate clean cop partnered with the quintessential dirty cop opens up a great deal of dramatic potential. Child’s actors are always a gamble, sometimes over acting, underacting or coming off unbelievable. David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne was fairly impressive. With his dark introspective brooding and intensity, Mazouz acts more like the comic book and cartoon version of the man behind the bat, that Christian Bale did in three movies.
The character who stole the show for me was Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney. An original character created for the series, this female mob boss is imposing, terrifying, beautiful, and charming. I don’t know if this is intentional or not but the delivery of her lines reminds me of Eartha Kitt’s portrayal of Catwoman.
The only bad spot of the series Erin Richards as Barbara Kean. She seemed a little under developed. With such a colorful cast of characters, the future Mrs. Gordon comes off as an obligatory love interest, and plot motivator but not a particularly well fleshed out character. I’m not going to complain, this is only episode one.
All in all I look forward future episodes.
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