Preview: The Gotham Pilot Has Colorful Characters, But Falls Flat

harpere

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Preview: The Gotham Pilot Has Colorful Characters, But Falls Flat

Will rookie cop James Gordon save the day and prevent Bruce Wayne from becoming Batman? Probably not... and the fact that this show promises no surprises is part of the problem.

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Ratty

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Jan 21, 2014
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Well it's about time someone made a Batman show, what a criminally underused character.
(For real though I am super excited the 1960s show is finally getting a video release.)

Mcoffey said:
This show's pitch always struck me as "Watch your favorite Batman characters before they do anything interesting!" and that, sadly, seems to be the case. I really don't understand why they thought it was a good idea to make this a prequel.
Four words. "It worked for Smallville!"
 

Gizmo1990

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Oct 19, 2010
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Ratty said:
Well it's about time someone made a Batman show, what a criminally underused character.
(For real though I am super excited the 1960s show is finally getting a video release.)

Mcoffey said:
This show's pitch always struck me as "Watch your favorite Batman characters before they do anything interesting!" and that, sadly, seems to be the case. I really don't understand why they thought it was a good idea to make this a prequel.
Four words. "It worked for Smallville!"
I would argue that it didn't work for Smallville but that is another topic.

OT:
I was never really that excited for a show about Gotham without Batman because, shocker, the thing I like about Gotham is that IT IS WHERE BATMAN LIVES but I understand that people could like this and I was going to give it a shot.

But now most of Batmans rouge gallery is a good 15-20 years older than him now? Don't think I will watch at all now.
 

luvd1

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Never understood why they thought having batman+friends was a good idea. He alone is not that interesting a character and his rouges gallery only come alive up against him. They should leave them all out, not even a reference and just tell the story of policing Gotham.
 

Kmadden2004

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The more I hear about this show, the more I think they should have just produced an adaptation of Gotham Central.

At least that way there's a reason for the rogues gallery to show up without it feeling utterly forced and contrived.
 

Quellist

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Oct 7, 2010
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Its like someone was reading through episodes of 'Garfield without Garfield' and got bashed on the head a few times until they came up with the idea that 'Batman without Batman' might be a thing worth doing...
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

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I'm surprised they just didn't play it safe and make CSI - Gotham City.

It will be, at minimum, 10 years before Batman can make an appearance in the show. Although, a prepubescent Batman trying to do the trademark gravel voice is hysterical (in my imagination), then he hits puberty and sees Catwoman in all her skintight catsuited glory...

Anyway, my point was, if it's a Batman show without Batman, it's not going to be worth watching.
 

Falterfire

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I'm curious if they're going to add superpowers to the mix or keep it to just the 'realistic' villains that make up a lot of the Batman Rogues Gallery.

This could be saved by strong writing, but it seems like the sort of concept that's going to be alien to too many viewers: To comic book fans it'll be a constant succession of characters who are building up to a conclusion that is already known but will never actually happen, but it may still be seen as too comic book-y to non comics fans.

Plus it suffers from foregone conclusion syndrome: Bullock survives and stays a part of the force. Gordon survives and becomes police commissioner. Edward Nygma becomes the evil Riddler, and so on. Every single character's arc is already pretty well known, which takes a lot of the curiosity out of the proceedings.
 

softclocks

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Kmadden2004 said:
The more I hear about this show, the more I think they should have just produced an adaptation of Gotham Central.

At least that way there's a reason for the rogues gallery to show up without it feeling utterly forced and contrived.
Gotham Central was fugging brilliant, so they really should do an adaption of it!
 
Apr 17, 2009
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Okay but, but but but but buuuuuuuuut, have Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen popped up yet? Basically I'm thinking along the same lines as Kmadden and softclocks in wanting an adaption of Gotham Central. Like really really really wanting an adaption of Gotham Central. And I'm pretty sure those two were supposed to have been cast. Hopefully as more than cameos in one episode...
 

PurpleLeafRave

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Feb 22, 2009
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I don't know if anyone read Zero Year recently, but you knew the outcome for every character and it still managed to be one of my favourite batman stories. I don't see how that takes away from the enjoyment. I love origin stories, and seeing how a character was shaped.
 

Ratty

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Gizmo1990 said:
I would argue that it didn't work for Smallville but that is another topic.
I would agree that it didn't work artistically. But the proof is in the pudding (read: 10 season run) that financially Smallville is one of the more successful/popular Superman spinoffs of recent memory.
 

roguewriter

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Wow. A review title at Escapist that doesn't really match what the article says. There's a shock >.>

In all seriousness I'm always okay with differing opinions. However in this instance I think she pictured or hoped for something very specific so intensely that she didn't allow herself to really see almost any of the elements the pilot got right or it's overall potential outside of character chewing the scenery. Felt it offers much more than that.

The reaction at SDCC was surprisingly positive overall (which shocked me given how purist so many folks there can be, especially those who wait for particular panels) and most reviews I've read thus far boil down to "Not amazing, but good."

But, to be fair, all the positive buzz and good reaction at SDCC won't mean shite if the ratings aren't there, and I've seen plenty of shows that had great buzz only to watch them fizzle because the network didn't get the attention on the channel it wanted, especially FOX. I enjoyed it enough that I really do want to see it succeed and not end up like Almost Human.

Oh and reviewers/commenters who pride themselves on having "Geek Cred" when it comes to Poison Ivy need to pipe down. The writers already confirmed that Ivy Pepper essentially will get adopted by the Isley family and will have her named formally changed to Pamela. The idea in this continuity is that her rise as Poison *Ivy* is essentially her returning to her true self, etc, etc. Bit pretentious, but I like it well enough.