zslane

I saw Cowboys & Aliens as Western pastiche. It tried to look like a Western but had little of its ethos. Ultimately, it was just another alien-princess-in-peril story. Firefly, on the other hand, looks like sci-fi, but has Old West blood running through its veins.

Cassandra's list is a bit mystifying on the "Marvel" side of things. Why no mention of the X-Men movies? Or the Hulk movies. Or the Blade movies. Or...(the list goes on)...
 
And, honestly, I feel Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter are far better than anything on tv based on DC properties.

Whenever an established character is changed in some significant way (race, sex, age, personality, etc.), I like to ask why the character was changed. More often than not my objection to the change is really with the motivation behind it, rather than with the change itself.
 
For example, if the reason for a change is merely because someone thought it would be "cool," then me getting on board is entirely dependent on whether I agree it is a "cool" idea or not. I've learned that what I think is cool and what some line editor half my age thinks is cool are usually two very different things. That's why so many changes I hear about in the comics simply make me roll my eyes.
 
As for diversity, look at Nick Fury. He went from being a middle-aged white guy to a middle-aged black guy, and hardly anyone flinched. Could the Punisher be black? If not, why not? Could Power Man be latino? Could Black Panther be an asian woman? Would we have to rename her Golden Tigress? Black Canary was never of African descent, so clearly the name need not be a signifier of race if they don't want it to be. If there is nothing sacred about a character's original conception, then presumably all characters' ethnicities, genders, ages, etc. are up for grabs. Where does the quest for equal opportunity end? Or does it?

WB/DC has not filled me with confidence in their ability to manufacture a cinematic superhero universe that I enjoy. All that their filmic attempts at comic book adaptation have shown me is that they have had their heads up their arses for the better part of a quarter century. Snyder's Superman film did not do anything to convince me otherwise. Why should I suddenly be filled with optimism?
 
I like the casting of Gadot (so far). She looks great to me in all the press materials and trailers. But then, Snyder's problem has never been casting or visuals. I'm just not looking forward to the grimdark Justice League they're setting up. But maybe that's just me.
 
I'll just be over here enjoying Agent Carter instead, tyvm.
 
(BTW, I loved Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but intense and noir-ish do not equal grimdark, especially given the undercurrent of optimism, hope, empowerment, and unstoppable determination that pervaded both shows.)

WB/DC has not filled me with confidence in their ability to manufacture a cinematic superhero universe that I enjoy. All that their filmic attempts at comic book adaptation have shown me is that they have had their heads up their arses for the better part of a quarter century. Snyder's Superman film did not do anything to convince me otherwise. Why should I suddenly be filled with optimism?
 
I like the casting of Gadot (so far). She looks great to me in all the press materials and trailers. But then, Snyder's problem has never been casting or visuals. I'm just not looking forward to the grimdark Justice League they're setting up. But maybe that's just me.
 
I'll just be over here enjoying Agent Carter instead, tyvm.
 
(BTW, I loved Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but intense and noir-ish do not equal grimdark, especially given the undercurrent of optimism, hope, empowerment, and unstoppable determination that pervaded both shows.)

WB/DC has not filled me with confidence in their ability to manufacture a cinematic superhero universe that I enjoy. All that their filmic attempts at comic book adaptation have shown me is that they have had their heads up their arses for the better part of a quarter century. Snyder's Superman film did not do anything to convince me otherwise. Why should I suddenly be filled with optimism?
 
I like the casting of Gadot (so far). She looks great to me in all the press materials and trailers. But then, Snyder's problem has never been casting or visuals. I'm just not looking forward to the grimdark Justice League they're setting up. But maybe that's just me.
 
I'll just be over here enjoying Agent Carter instead, tyvm.
 
(BTW, I loved Daredevil and Jessica Jones, but intense and noir-ish do not equal grimdark, especially given the undercurrent of optimism, hope, empowerment, and unstoppable determination that pervaded both shows.)

Another point of view on that:
 
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-wonder-woman-movie-has-a-brilliant-approach-to-gett-1753211325

Am I the only one who gave Greywind the benefit of the doubt here and assumed that, when he wrote hermit, he meant recluse?
 
Just like when everyone says "jealous" when they mean "envious"...

I know I harp on it a lot, but this is typical tv writing, and by that I mean you should forget what was established in previous episodes and just enjoy what you see each week in narrative isolation. After all, that's basically what the writers are doing.

It's not just Strange's origin story. It is, in a sense, the origin story of "magic" in the MCU beyond what little we've seen in the Thor films. Maybe not so much the origin of magic per se, but Strange's journey from rationalist to sorceror becomes our journey as we learn the nature of magic in the MCU right along with him. I am weary of origin stories too, but I kind of feel this an important one, and an important one to get right for the future of multi-dimensional "magic" in the MCU.

It's not just Strange's origin story. It is, in a sense, the origin story of "magic" in the MCU beyond what little we've seen in the Thor films. Maybe not so much the origin of magic per se, but Strange's journey from rationalist to sorceror becomes our journey as we learn the nature of magic in the MCU right along with him. I am weary of origin stories too, but I kind of feel this an important one, and an important one to get right for the future of multi-dimensional "magic" in the MCU.

It's not just Strange's origin story. It is, in a sense, the origin story of "magic" in the MCU beyond what little we've seen in the Thor films. Maybe not so much the origin of magic per se, but Strange's journey from rationalist to sorceror becomes our journey as we learn the nature of magic in the MCU right along with him. I am weary of origin stories too, but I kind of feel this an important one, and an important one to get right for the future of multi-dimensional "magic" in the MCU.

It's not just Strange's origin story. It is, in a sense, the origin story of "magic" in the MCU beyond what little we've seen in the Thor films. Maybe not so much the origin of magic per se, but Strange's journey from rationalist to sorceror becomes our journey as we learn the nature of magic in the MCU right along with him. I am weary of origin stories too, but I kind of feel this an important one, and an important one to get right for the future of multi-dimensional "magic" in the MCU.

2010: The Year We Make Contact showed a moon being consumed by black monoliths and, ultimately, being turned into a second sun. 25 years and countless sci-fi movies and tv shows later and audiences can't be counted on to grasp the concept (and image of) a huge, inscrutable alien in armor, consuming a planet with massive alien technology? That's not just a tragic failure of faith in audiences, that's a profound failure of creative vision on the filmmakers' part.
 
But I guess Marvel hadn't yet shown the way when the FF films were made...

It's a shame because the character has all the same potential as Superman, in terms of storytelling, and the lead actress is an absolute gem. Those of us who were (rightfully) skeptical of CBS's vision for the show are watching that miscalcuation play itself out week by week. I don't put the entire blame on the writers because they are merely following a show bible that was conceptually flawed to begin with. It takes a degree of brilliance not generally found in Hollywood to take a flawed concept and make the writing transcend it. So I can't really fault the writing team for being unable to dig themselves out of an impossible situation like this.
 
For me the biggest issues are 1) tone, and 2) overly liberal use of the dumb stick. The first one forms the foundation for the show, and being stuck with a light, romcom tone doomed the show from the start, IMO. The second one is entirely the fault of the showrunner and the head writer (if they aren't already the same person) who is responsible for quality control of the storytelling and the dialogue. Most showrunners are overworked and given more responsibility than they can handle, which is why that role isn't for the faint of heart or the unequivocally brilliant.
 
I guess I've been spoiled by Agent Carter. That show sets the bar for what I expect, at the very minimum, from any non-grimdark series with a female action hero at its center.

I think this show is trying to reach a younger demographic. Helen and Calista have the 50-and-over demo covered. They don't need to add another golden girl like Petty to the mix. ;-)

Apparently we're expected to suspend not just disbelief, but all common sense and rationality because superpowers. Just like on The Flash. Feh.

This is mostly just a copout. The same copout that says just because a fantasy world has magic, there need be no internal logic to the world or magic itself. Which is utter nonsense. You are right, we can't analyse superspeed scientifically. However, the show wants to allow Barry to take advantage of a real physical phenomenon (terminal velocity) while simultaneously ignoring any real physical phenomenon that gets in the way of the plot or action scene. As a viewer, I don't allow writers to get that lazy without criticism.

I was writing my thoughts of the episode while I was watching it, but scrapped it when I realized that a lot of my issues could be explained by the notion that Supergirl is like a Champions character being played by a total Champions newbie. Someone who doesn't fully grasp the combat mechanics yet and has no tactical experience to draw from. In that sense she's no dumber than every first-time Champions player I've ever come across.
 
Of course, that doesn't excuse the horrible wire work they employ for her hovering and landing shots. OMG it's awful.
 
I do wish she would stop referring to her family crest as an "S". It's not an "S". She even went to pains to explain that in the pilot.
 
And I'm still waiting for them to explain what her costume is made of (not the cape). It appears to be as invulnerable as she is.
 
The romantic triangle they are setting up feels trite and cliched, but that's to be expected given the sort of show this wants to be.
 
I do like the theme they are building upon that Supergirl can accomplish things that Superman can't by virtue of working with a team. However, I feel that Superman ought to know (and benefit) from teamwork as well, but this show doesn't operate in the DCU where there is this thing called the Justice League. It is in a universe where there are only two superheroes on the planet, and one of them just got started two weeks ago.
 
Nevertheless, I just don't buy that Superman couldn't defeat that lame villain, Reactron. Are you kidding me?
 
The best thing about the show continues to be Melissa Benoist. At this point I watch it just to see her radiantly cheerful take on the character. Everything else, except perhaps for Jimmy, er, James Olsen, is pretty weak sauce.

The way I see it, a new continuity is formed the moment a time traveler enters the time stream at some point in the past. Eobard existed (disguised as Wells) as an entity with his own mass and consciousness and ability to exist independent of his birth origin from the continuity he came from. Eddie killing himself should have had no impact on Evil Wells at all. That connection was effectively broken the moment Eobard created his new continuity upon emerging back into the E1 timestream 15 years ago. But the writers wanted to eat their cake and have it too. They wanted to cash in on everyone's love of time travel mechanics from beloved movies such as Back to the Future, even though they don't hold up to any sort of rigorous intellectual scrutiny.
 
This is why I knew I would dislike The Flash on some level no matter how good everything else was. Time travel is guaranteed to make no sense whatsoever, and guaranteed to be the weak link in the plotting of the show. It ruined Heroes, and it is an albatross around the neck of The Flash too. I realize that time travel is a traditional element of the character, but that doesn't make it any more palatable, especially given how poorly it is always handled.

Dr. Light exemplifies a problem that occurs in nearly every superhero show ever created, namely that the heroes and villains are dumber than the average Champions player in terms of using their powers.
 
When faced with a Speedster (or anyone with an insanely high DEX), you use mental powers or AoEs. That's just Superpowers 101. Dr. Light has AoE attacks but she only used them once against Barry. And she wasted way too many Phases and way too much END direct-firing at his speed mirages when she should have just been knocking him on his butt with an AoE and then toasting him with direct shots while he was Stunned. But she's like every other superpowered character on tv and fights with the imagination of a tv writer rather than a Superhero RPG player. I've been living with that disappointment for 30 years and it never fails to suck.
 
I didn't know that barista chick was going to be Hawkgirl, but in any event I wasn't thinking, wow! I'd love to see more of her on a show! I don't think I'm going to even bother with Legends of Tomorrow given how the only thing in it I don't already hate (from what little I know about it) is Caty Lotz and she's just not enough to make me put up with everything else about it.
 
I like that this new Harrison Wells is unlikeable because it creates an interesting dramatic tension, not just with the characters, but within us as viewers. It would have been too easy to make this version charming and likeable and trustworthy, but this is more interesting. He isn't evil but he's unpleasant and arrogant and unlikeable, which is completely different. But we're conditioned to behave the same way around either type of person which is sort of fascinating to me.
 
And I agree with Rob Bricken that there is way more chemistry between Barry and Patty than between Barry and Iris. But I think that's for two reasons: 1. We get to see their relationship grow from the start rather than it being pre-established and something we're just expected to accept apriori, and 2. Patty is way more into Barry than Iris is/ever was and she can't hide it, which is both adorable and refreshing. The only part I found annoying was the extent to which Barry avoided her until now.
 
I like Cisco. I do. But pairing him up with Lisa Snart or future Hawkgirl doesn't really work for me. He needs his Simmons, if you know what I mean. Neither of those two women are Simmons to his Fitz.
 
As for Zoom, I'm sure they are going to try and surprise us with who from Earth-2 is under that mask, but I'd rather not know. I'd rather he be a mysterious villain that continues to torment and plague Barry forever, than an excuse for one season of drama concluded with a shocking reveal and two-episode defeat.

I have mixed feelings towards pilots.
 
On the one hand, I realize that they aren't always the best representation of what to expect from a new series because it is usually produced as a one-shot deal with a crew that isn't necessarily the one that will work on the series, with an FX house that is rarely the same FX house that will handle the series work (Zoic is famous for getting pilots but never getting the series, or at least not for long). The actors won't have the benefit of having settled into their characters and so on. I mean, I get why you can't really judge a series from its pilot.
 
However, the unfortunately reality is that both audiences and studio execs judge the future prospects of a new series on the basis of the pilot. If the pilot doesn't impress the execs (and test audiences) then the front 13 don't get greenlit. If the pilot doesn't grab a big audience right off the bat, then the back 9 won't get greenlit and you'll have yet another series that never made it past 13 episodes. The pressure to attract an audience is intense for a pilot, so it can't afford to suck.
 
And there are plenty of examples of pilots that were absolutely superb. Perhaps the finest example of the last decade is the (2-hr) pilot for Lost, which was better than a lot of big-budget feature films. The resources invested in that pilot paid big dividends and launched a cultural phenomenon. I firmly believe that it is the job of the pilot to convince me to tune in to the next episode. And it is the job of the next episode to convince me to tune in to the next, and so on. In a way, the entire process hinges on the pilot to get it all started on a positive, successful note.
 
Despite its impressive ratings, it remains to be seen how well the Supergirl pilot succeeded in capturing an audience that will stick around through at least the "mid-season finale".

I guess I just don't see the superhero-oriented dramatic potential in making Wally the previously-unknown brother of Iris as opposed to her previously-unmentioned cousin. Now, if she was a supervillain and Wally was a superhero, then I'd see the point of creating the stronger sibling bond. As it stands, I fail to see how the geneological choice here makes any interesting dramatic difference whatsoever.
 
Speaking of characters that aren't supervillains but maybe ought to be: am I the only one who now realizes that if Caitlin Snow is going to become Killer Frost that it most likely won't be our Caitlin Snow from Earth Prime, but a Caitlin Snow from one of the other 52 realities? Which means anyone sitting around waiting for Caitlin Prime to have some sort of tragic, emotionally wrought "moment" that leads her down the path towards supervillainy is probably going to be waiting forever.

Melissa Benoist is an absolute delight. She is the best thing about the show, without question.
 
But oh boy everything else was painful. Okay, I take that back. I like this new take on Jimmy, er, James Olsen. He gets to stand proxy for all the advice-giving The Big Guy would provide personally but can't because reasons. That's not a terrible way to go as long as it doesn't begin to feel like constant name-dropping. Unfortunately, that's where the good stuff ended for me.
 
There was so little logic to nearly everything in the show it hurt my brain (I think that's what having my intelligence insulted that badly feels like). In addition to all the things Orchid mentions, there's the whole "I'm the second superhero in the world" thing that really bothered me. I mean, this is still the DCU after all, and a quarter decade after Superman started heroing there were plenty of others out there with wild abilities and fancy costumes fighting supervillains. She is not the world's second superhero, and if she really is then this show is probably not one I'm going to watch. Even if they don't show us Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, or any of the others, the fact that they go out of their way to deny their very existance on any level is like a huge middle-finger to DC fans.
 
And let's see, there's a humongous space prison that crashed on Earth and unleashed hundreds if not thousands of superpowered baddies and we are supposed to believe that the DEO and Superman have succeeded in keeping that a secret from the entire world all this time?
 
The fight scenes and wire-work were pretty awful. Maybe they'll get a lot better as time goes on, assuming the series lasts that long, but at least in the pilot they were just awful. She was floating in that awkward "I'm on wires trying to look like I'm hovering" pose, and the scene where she's trying to keep the axe from slicing her head in half while she heats it up with her heat vision was really poor; I didn't see any sign of muscular strain at all. It was so phony I would have laughed if I wasn't so embarrassed for the actress.
 
And I'm not buying Jeremy Jordan here; he's too good-looking to be taking on the Ducky role.
 
Nor was I impressed with the stunt casting of Dean Cain and Helen Slater. I just rolled my eyes when I saw them.
 
The sister is not convincing in her role, and her one-dimensional DEO boss is one too many after watching Calista Flockhart own that stereotype in Act One. I'd also like to know where Kara got the blue material capable of deflecting bullets. Watch that scene again and you'll see what I mean; the cape would not have been riddled with holes, her blue top and red skirt would have been.
 
I'm also really tired of the everyone-has-kryptonite trope that any series about Super-whatever seems to require. You'd think that in 75 years writers would have moved beyond that plot crutch.
 
I could go on and on but I'm depressing even myself. Ms. Benoist single-handedly saved the pilot from being 100% garbage. I will watch the next couple of episodes to see if the production redeems itself.

Time travel is a continuity killer.