Looking at the television schedules lately, it looks like the comic book adaptation isn't happy with it's lot as the king of cinema and it's coming for the smaller screen. We've already seen this in dribs and drabs, with The Walking Dead continuing to shuffle on, the wildly entertaining Arrow bursting into its second series with a gusto and Agents of SHIELD - A much maligned show that I'll happily defend to the death, coming to an initial close and all set up for a second series as well. True it had a slow start, and the initial few episodes suffered from characters who carried all the traditional Whedon stereotypes and very little of the associated charm, but over time it's built itself into a thrilling mammoth of a series, and I hope they can carry that momentum forward into their much deserved second outing.
TV series based on comic books are often mooted, but like so many movies of the same ilk (anyone remember the proposed Magneto or Silver Surfer spin-offs? The Flash movie that was rolling around in development hell with Wonder Woman post DC crawling into a hole when anything without a bat in it wasn't working out for them?) they often fall flat on their face. Despite their best efforts, Wonder Woman will have to remain Lynda Carter on the small screen for awhile longer and the often talked about Fables adaptation (canalised as it was into Once Upon A Time) seems to constantly wind up off and on the table as the years roll by. But something extraordinary happened these past few weeks. We got trailers. A whole host of trailers.
I already covered Gotham in a previous blog, but in the same rough time span we saw a glimpse of what was to come for two other DC properties that are coming soon. These are The Flash, based on DC's première scarlet speedster, and Constantine, the smarmy, no nonsense demon hunter who you wouldn't want to trust with your daughter. Or anyone else. Possibly not even your worst enemy. I have to admit, I'm very excited for both of these, but let's take a look!
Well... I have to admit I have mixed feelings on this one. The man they have playing Constantine, visually, is spot on. The only way you could get a better representation of the character is inventing a time machine and stealing 1980s circa Sting. There was also a moment in the trailer that made me jump out of my skin, immediately followed by a 'Feck me that's gross!' which is exactly what you want from something relating to Hellblazer. However. However. I can't help but get a nagging feeling about this. Maybe it's how the trailer is cut, but this does have the whiff of... Well, let's not beat around the bush, there are parts of it that reminded me of Charmed and other rather dubious 90s shows that featured heavily signposted plots and relationships and passable acting from anyone who didn't have a major role. That scene with the mum talking to her daughter is a prime example, and made me cringe a little. But the information landfill that was the conversation with the angel he had was pretty bad too.
I also can't seem to get used to Constantine himself. Everytime I've seen him he's either been stand-offish or extremely sarcy and enigmatic, yet here there's something of the cheerful jokester and emotional guardian to him. Again, this is snippets and not a whole representation, and it's true that even though he's terrible - Constantine does strive to be a good person. The inherent tragedy of the character is that for as much good as he tries to do, more people around and close to him seem to suffer. That'll take anyone off the rails, and maybe this version of the character just hasn't suffered enough yet. But I think it'll still take me awhile to get used to him.
I was also going to complain about the accent. I'm not sure where the accent comes from, and can only assume it's Matt Ryan's own, but it's... Very Welsh. With possibly the slightest hint of Irish (making him all the more jaunty!). However, considering Constantine is supposed to be a scouser, it could've been far, far worse I suppose. C-C-Constantine Vision! Demonic runes to me, demonic runes to you, and other jokes that will be lost on our international friends. I'm sorry guys. It happens sometimes.
That being said, the idea of starting the character out in an asylum is pretty inspired (and the chaos that goes on there looks fantastically fun!) and some of the supernatural elements were pulled off well. But on the whole I think I'll be stepping into this one a little cautiously, not only because of everything listed above, but because compared to the other two trailers released recently - This looks to be the less polished of the lot, and I was really hoping for some fantastically visceral and creepy set pieces from this one.
That said, it could really surprise me, and hey! At least there's no Keanu Reeves in sight!
Now this is more like it! I have to admit, I've been looking forward to this one for awhile and from the glimpse above it doesn't look like it's going to disappoint. I instantly fell in love with Grant Gustin during his cameo on Arrow, and the team behind that show has won an awful lot of good will with me over the course of its run. Like Agents of SHIELD, Arrow got off to a rocky start but soon pulled itself out of the rut with compelling plots featuring the mysterious island and John Barrowman. Seriously, John Barrowman is a power player of this series, and I'm over the moon he's coming on full time for series 3.
The minds behind that series are some of the few over at Warner Brothers I trust to deliver me compelling, comic book action I actually enjoy and from the trailer above? It seems like they've got the foundation for something good. On the downside there seems to be a lot of elements from more current comic book lore creeping in, Geoff Johns' ridiculous grimdark origin story for Barry Allen, for example, which doesn't even fit the television version of the character from what we've seen of him. But I did love the slight glimpse we got of Thawne! He looks fantastic. It also seems like we're going to get a set of Rogues who instead of relying on tricks and costumes and their own personal charm are going to gain actual powers from being mutated by roughly the same force as Barry himself.
I can't say this doesn't rub me the wrong way, mostly because if that's the connection they are going with then guys? Hey guys, Speed Force doesn't work that way! But I'm not despairing quite yet. Arrow's treatment of heroes and villains alike have been slightly off kilter to their comic counterparts, but the personalities and quirks always shine through in the end and it's wound up being the most faithful and exciting series for comic book fans lately. Deathstroke and Deadshot seem to come more and more alive and in line with their characters the more we see of them, for example, and even Count Vertigo as a deranged drug pusher worked in it's own way. Besides, having everything neatly tied together (much like Oliver's Island list) makes for better TV I suppose. Ultimately the important thing about the Rogues isn't going to be their powers or how they came about, it's going to be their personalities and if we ever see them band together in a dysfunctional family. That'll make or break them, and I urge the creators not to screw it up.
Other than that, I have to say I'm very impressed. From a technical point of view, it's certainly the trailer with the most eye candy. While Constantine barely looks polished in places, Flash looks slick from the outset and the special effects are beyond passable. Barry's movement, for example, just looks like it was torn right from the pages of the comics and is masterfully done while the super speed stunts look impressive in themselves, though I have to wonder how many bones Barry broke pulling off some of them.
The premise and performances seem solid as well. Barry being backed by STAR labs makes more sense than him jobbing it alone (Ollie can afford his hobby, a police scientist? Perhaps not!) and opens up a whole new element of the TV universe for them to explore. Hopefully this element doesn't get in the way of Barry's superhero antics and personal life, as if I'm honest that's what I really want to see, but it's an interesting addition none the less. Weather Wizard's power set seems spot on too, even if there's little in the trailer to distinguish him from ever other cackling super villain on Earth, and from the brief glimpse we got of her the lady they cast as Iris West seems perfectly charming in her own right as well. So we'll hopefully be spared the initial teething pains of Ollie's family being the most grating thing in the world in the early episodes of Arrow.
Of course, the show itself could be awful and the trailer only the very best, hand selected portions of the lot (it certainly had a better editor than Constantine's!) but I'm optimistic. The ultimate question, I suppose, is if it's going to turn out more flash than substance?
So there you have it. Walking Dead, Arrow, Agents of SHIELD, Gotham, Flash, Constantine and then of course the Netflix Marvel shows, the proposed Sandman television series and many others beyond that we'll either see... Or we won't. Comic books are coming for the small screen in a big way, and hopefully they'll wind up on par with the kind of movies we're being treated too now, and not the TV equivalents of Catwoman.
No comments:
Post a Comment