The Flash Pilot Review: Dumber Than A Speeding Bullet

[RossaLincoln]

The Flash Pilot Review: Dumber Than A Speeding Bullet

But dumb isn't necessarily bad, so long as this thing doesn't take itself too seriously.

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[Burnouts3s3]

I'm going to give this show a chance since I love Arrow so much. If it goes wrong, well, live and learn.

 

[ExtraDebit]

I've watched the trailer and I've watched the pilot, maybe they just did the trailer too well but the pilot feels like a longer version of the trailer.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

"Guys, people have caught-on to how we only know how to characterize our heroes by killing their dad."

"What if we kill the mom instead?"

"Wilson... that has got to be... without a single doubt in my mind... the absolute BEST idea I've heard all day! Who's next in line? Flash? Let's get this ball rolling!"

 

[ritchards]

I love the casting of John Wesley Shipp as the father. Someone had their eye on the ball that day...

 

[faefrost]

I love the casting of John Wesley Shipp as the father. Someone had their eye on the ball that day...

I'm wondering if they are thinking about doing something interesting with it beyond a wink and nod to what has gone before? Maybe slide Shipp into the role of a Jay Garrick type?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

The no Speed Force is actually a good thing, the whole implementation of it makes Flash too overpowered. Overpowered becomes boring, very quickly.

Looking forward to the forthcoming Arrow crossovers.

 

[Eiv]

I quite enjoyed the pilot. It's certainly more 'fun' than arrow.

 

[Pseudonym2]

Flashpoint, (from what I read) was really bad. I'm disappointed they're using Barry Allan. He's the worst comic protagonist other than the alien scarecrow from Paying for It.

 

[Falterfire]

Yeah, definitely agree with it feeling like it was made of clichés. The two things that bugged me most were probably:

Spoiler: Spoilers

1. The love story right now, such as it is: Barry has a crush on Iris, is about to ask her out when she reveals she thinks of him as brother, and then she immediately starts dating a dumb jerk. I can't imagine where such a plot could possibly be going.

2. The scene where he tells his adopted dad that he believes the villain has superpowers (after getting superpowers himself). He asks cop-dad to trust him. When cop-dad doesn't believe him, he just walks away instead of, y'know, demonstrating that superpowers are a thing by using his.

 

[marscentral]

Arrow has gotten really good over it's run. The introduction of Flash has helped move it away from being like Nolan's gritty Batman trilogy and much more of the fantasy style of a superhero comic. They are seriously missing a trick in not trying to tie these two to their film universe the way Marvel has with Agents of SHIELD. It would make the Justice League film way easier if Flash and one or two others have been established on TV and don't need to bog the film down in telling people who they are.

 

[Baresark]

I honestly really enjoyed the pilot. It was interesting, it didn't waste it's time getting to the good stuff and it's looking good. I don't tend to get bogged down in "Cliches". I find this complaint mostly comes up when people have a hard time explaining what they don't like. But maybe my inherent love of comics helped me look past anything. It was really comfortable with itself. The episode had no inhibitions throwing the zonkiness of it all at you.

 

[SecondPrize]

That's all very fine and good, Mr. Lincoln, but is the Queen song present? I know it's different Flash's but still, a flash is a flash is a flash.

 

[tdylan]

The no Speed Force is actually a good thing, the whole implementation of it makes Flash too overpowered. Overpowered becomes boring, very quickly.

Perhaps you can answer a question of mine: I'm not a DC reader, so my familiarity with Flash doesn't go beyond "he moves fast," and what I've seen in Justice League on cartoon network. But something that always bothered me about him and other "speed" characters is the physics of moving that quickly. For example, in the trailer I saw him dash to catch someone flying through the air that was hit by a car. Cool. Except in my mind I'm thinking "how does the person survive the impact of being hit by someone (something) moving as quickly as Flash was?"

It's physics. For example, there is that sequence in Days of Future Past where Quicksilver is moving faster than the shots fired by some prison guards, and "messing with them." Again, cool. But what makes bullets "bullets" is that they are projectiles moving as super fast speeds, and force is "mass x acceleration." So shouldn't the act of moving faster than speeding bullets mean that the impact of your mass on the environment is having the effect of bullets striking those surfaces? So Flash's feet hitting the ground should wear the hell out of his shoes immediately, and him "catching" someone as their flying thru the air should amount to him and all his mass hitting them with the force of an equally sized bullet, yes? How do they explain it away?

I've seen speed characters darting around, and causing car alarms to go off, and debris to fly into the air, and even the ground behind them to catch fire, but never heard and explanation as to why they don't obliterate the person that they "catch" in midair on impact.

 

[Triaed]

Wow, reading Ross summary makes this show sound good, on paper.

I have seen the pilot and it completely sucks! I am not an eloquent person nor can I put what bothers me in a coherent way (I might have a job as a game or film critic otherwise), but believe me, the production value of this pilot is abysmal. Bad acting, bad plot, terrible non-sequiturs, and the dumbest actions/reactions from people.

I am concerned at the overall quality of the CW as this is the place where many fans turn to for their alternative-human stories. They messed up Flash, Arrow, Tomorrow People, etc. they have shows like Vampire Diaries and revisionist Reign... terrible lineup.

I shiver to think what they will do to I, Zombie!

 

[spoonybard.hahs]

The no Speed Force is actually a good thing, the whole implementation of it makes Flash too overpowered. Overpowered becomes boring, very quickly.

Perhaps you can answer a question of mine: I'm not a DC reader, so my familiarity with Flash doesn't go beyond "he moves fast," and what I've seen in Justice League on cartoon network. But something that always bothered me about him and other "speed" characters is the physics of moving that quickly. For example, in the trailer I saw him dash to catch someone flying through the air that was hit by a car. Cool. Except in my mind I'm thinking "how does the person survive the impact of being hit by someone (something) moving as quickly as Flash was?"

It's physics. For example, there is that sequence in Days of Future Past where Quicksilver is moving faster than the shots fired by some prison guards, and "messing with them." Again, cool. But what makes bullets "bullets" is that they are projectiles moving as super fast speeds, and force is "mass x acceleration." So shouldn't the act of moving faster than speeding bullets mean that the impact of your mass on the environment is having the effect of bullets striking those surfaces? So Flash's feet hitting the ground should wear the hell out of his shoes immediately, and him "catching" someone as their flying thru the air should amount to him and all his mass hitting them with the force of an equally sized bullet, yes? How do they explain it away?

I've seen speed characters darting around, and causing car alarms to go off, and debris to fly into the air, and even the ground behind them to catch fire, but never heard and explanation as to why they don't obliterate the person that they "catch" in midair on impact.

COMICS.

ARE.

WEIRD!

Ahem.

Anyway, the "idea" is that they are wearing special suits designed to lower the friction and gravitational forces exerted on their bodies while running at these ludicrous ridiculous speeds. In the case of the Flash and other speedsters in the DCU, there exists this extra-dimensional force - called the Speed Force - that grants them additional abilities. Such as molecule manipulation (allowing them to phase though objects), extra strength, running even faster, time/dimensional travel (via speed), or anything else necessitated by the plot.

To answer your question about the force speedsters exert on others, it's kind of sort of accepted that they have control over that as well.

 

[Falterfire]

How do they explain it away?

It's called suspension of disbelief. "This guy runs faster than the sound barrier" is the premise. Nothing about that is even the slightest bit realistic. It makes no sense, either in terms of energy output for the human body, the forces of acceleration, or the effects he has on nearby things. It's pretty key to the premise that he is able to move insanely fast while frequently ignoring the inconvenient problems of said speed.

It's like Superman picking up a card and not ending up with holes through the bottom or Batman doing pretty much everything Batman survives or Wolverine regenerating despite that not working with the Conservation of Matter or any number of other things: You either suspend your disbelief because it's a fictional work that intentionally not based on the laws of physics or you go read/watch something else.

Fiction is fiction. It's not real. That's the entire point.

 

[tdylan]

How do they explain it away?

It's called suspension of disbelief...Fiction is fiction. It's not real. That's the entire point.

I get that, and I can suspend my disbelief. But it's when they got the lengths of saying (not that this particular example happened) "Here, Wally, put this on. It's a special experimental material that should resist the intense friction generated when you move, while remaining lightweight and not hampering your abilities." Cool. They go to the trouble of thinking "we'd better explain why his special suit doesn't get ripped apart by the friction of the air," but then when someone asks "what about him running into people?" The answer is "look! suspend your disbelief. You can't expect us to explain away everything."

At least Reed Richards says "Our clothes are made from unstable molecules, and that's why they don't burn when Johnny flames on." Wolverine is "cells divide rapidly so..." I even remember an episode of Lois and Clark where shots were fired in Clark's apartment, I think, and left holes in his costume. Lois said something like "I thought your costume was indestructible?" He answered "only when I'm wearing it. My body projects a field/aura/thingy a few millimeters that protects it from harm." I thought "bullshit, but at least they tried."

 

[Primus1985]

The Flash Pilot Review: Dumber Than A Speeding Bullet

But dumb isn't necessarily bad, so long as this thing doesn't take itself too seriously.

Read Full Article

Dont listen to this guy people. Watched the pilot a few weeks ago when it leaked online. I thought it was pretty great. Im not even that much of a Flash fan and I enjoyed it.